Department for Transport

Motor Vehicles: Exhaust Emissions

Alun Cairns: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what plans he has to provide exemptions to specialist automotive sectors from the proposed ban on the sale of petrol and diesel vehicles in 2035.

Grant Shapps: The Prime Minister announced last week that we are consulting on bringing forward the end to the sale of new petrol and diesel cars and vans to 2035, or earlier if a faster transition appears feasible, as well as including hybrids for the first time. We are consulting on the Committee on Climate Change recommendation that any new vehicles sold after the phase out date must be zero emission at the tailpipe. We understand the concerns of low volume manufacturers and we will be engaging with stakeholders on a package of support allowing us to seize the opportunities and lead the world in the shift to zero emission vehicles. As part of this consultation, we are asking what the accompanying package of support will need to be to enable the transition and minimise the impacts on businesses and consumers across the UK, building on the significant demand and supply side measures already in place. The Government will continue to work with all sectors of industry to accelerate the rollout of zero emission vehicles - helping to deliver new green jobs in the UK.

Air Space

Mr Steve Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make it his policy to ensure the CAP1616 airspace design change process supports (a) general aviation, (b) gliding and (c) parachuting in the UK.

Grant Shapps: The government’s overarching policy on airspace change is set out in the Air Navigation Directions 2017 and reflected in the Civil Aviation Authority’s CAP1616 airspace change process. The Directions were amended in October 2019 to help support general aviation in the UK, and a further amendment to provide additional assistance is due shortly. The objective is for the UK to be the best place in the world to undertake general aviation-related activities in order to inspire the next generation of pilots, engineers and designers, and an appropriate airspace change process is crucial to ensuring this.

Public Transport: Storms

Alex Norris: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the effect of Storm Ciara on public transport in (a) Nottingham and (b) the UK.

Grant Shapps: Storm Ciara impacted all modes of transport, both in Nottingham and across the UK, and I extend my sympathies to all those affected. Operators and highway authorities implemented contingency arrangements and resumed services as quickly and safely as possible, whilst keeping the travelling public informed.

Bridges: Irish Sea

Lloyd Russell-Moyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what plans his Department has to build a bridge between Northern Ireland and Scotland.

Grant Shapps: The previous Secretary of State met with DUP MP’s to discuss the proposals. Subsequently, officials provided advice to both the previous and current Secretary of State on the options available to facilitate a feasibility study.

Roads: Construction

Layla Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions he has had with local authorities in (a) 2019 and (b) 2020 on the viability of Ox-Cam Arc housing targets in the event that the Oxford-Cambridge expressway project is cancelled.

Grant Shapps: In developing a business case for the expressway, appropriate account has been taken of the housing growth that is already being planned in the area and both the Department and Highways England have engaged with local authorities across the Oxford-Cambridge Arc including about their local plans. We will provide an update on whether the project should continue in due course.

Heathrow Airport: Air Pollution

Fleur Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to ensure that (a) Putney Heath and (b) other wildlife sites are protected from air traffic pollution if a third runway is built at Heathrow Airport.

Grant Shapps: Following designation of the Airports National Policy Statement, it is now down to an applicant for development consent to undertake an Environmental Impact Assessment that identifies any likely significant effects of the proposed project on the environment. This will include a detailed assessment of the air quality impacts of its scheme, including during construction, and put forward an appropriate package of mitigations that address air quality impacts and demonstrate compliance. In order to grant development consent, the Secretary of State would need to be satisfied that, with mitigation, the scheme would be compliant with legal obligations.

Cycling and Walking

Fleur Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to support (a) local authorities and (b) communities to implement (i) walking and (ii) cycling strategies.

Chris Heaton-Harris: The Department has provided a £2 million programme of support to enable 46 local authorities to prepare Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plans (LCWIPs). The Department is also working with the sector to develop further support for authorities on scheme development. Following the Prime Minister's announcement on 11 February, the Government will provide further funding support to local authorities to deliver new cycling and waking schemes that have been prioritised in LCWIPs. Further details will be announced in due course.

Heathrow Airport: Transport

Fleur Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions his Department has had with Heathrow Airport Ltd on surface access to the airport from Putney in the event that a third runway proceeds to development.

Grant Shapps: As part of the surface access requirements in the draft Airports National Policy Statement, Government has specified that any applicant for development consent should set out the mitigation measures that it considers are required to minimise and mitigate the effect of expansion on existing surface access arrangements. The Department is engaging with a range of stakeholders, including Heathrow Airport Ltd, about surface access to the airport. Following the publication in November 2019 of the potential strategic objectives for a new Southern Access to Heathrow scheme, the Department has been discussing with Heathrow how such a scheme could be taken forward and its future role. Subject to the scheme development, this has the potential to provide improved rail links from Putney and South West London to Heathrow Airport.

Driving: Licensing

Alun Cairns: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many driving licences were (a) revoked and (b) suspended for medical reasons in each of the last five years.

Grant Shapps: The table below provides a breakdown of revocations or applications refused on medical grounds, for drivers with car and motorcycle entitlement (group one) and for drivers with lorry and bus entitlement (group two) for the last five calendar years. YearGroup1 (car/motorcycle)Group 2 (lorry/bus)201547,6588,095201661,35410,665201759,16311,213201861,48212,242201962,61310,371 Some individuals may be recorded in both groups as their licences to drive all vehicles have been revoked or refused. Others may not meet the higher medical standards required for driving lorries or buses but may have been allowed to retain their entitlement to drive cars and motorcycles. The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency does not temporarily suspend driving licences for medical reasons.

Speed Limits: Urban Areas

Conor McGinn: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what plans his Department has to increase the number of 20mph limit zones in built-up environments.

Grant Shapps: The Department believes that local traffic authorities are best placed to set local speed limits based on local needs and priorities.

Speed Limits: Urban Areas

Conor McGinn: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment he has made of the effect on the level of road traffic-related casualties of introducing 20mph speed limits in built-up environments.

Grant Shapps: In November 2018, the Department published its comprehensive three-year study of the effect of 20mph limits. The report is available online at:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/20-mph-speed-limits-on-roads

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

Paper: Recycling

John Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what discussions his Department has had with representatives of the paper industry on increasing the use of UK-sourced recycled paper.

Nadhim Zahawi: The Department regularly meets with representatives of the UK paper industry to discuss issues such as the volume of UK-sourced recycled paper being exported overseas. In 2018, packaging and other recovered papers amounted to nearly 8 million tonnes, of which over 3 million tonnes was consumed by UK mills and nearly 5 million tonnes of material exported for use in other countries.[1] Our primary aim is to process more waste domestically, including recycled paper. In the Resources and Waste Strategy for England, we committed to exploring options to ensure fair competition for all reprocessors, which will help stimulate private investment in the UK’s reprocessing and recycling infrastructure. [1] As highlighted by the Confederation of Paper Industries’ report on the economic value of the UK paper-based industries.

Electric Vehicles: Batteries

John Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, with reference to the oral contribution of the former Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy of 11 June 2019, Official Report, column 523, when the Faraday Battery Challenge plans to report on battery degradation.

Nadhim Zahawi: The Government’s £274 million Faraday Battery Challenge aims to extend battery pack life to be equivalent to the life of a car by 2035. Industry and academic partners are working on research and development projects to explore factors affecting degradation; they regularly publish scientific papers on their findings. An £11 million “Extending Battery Life” project, funded by the Faraday Institution, has published more than 15 scientific papers on understanding battery degradation mechanisms and is moving into solving them. Their Multi-Scale Modelling project is also looking at battery degradation and modelling tools to improve battery design. In addition to these large projects, two of the three Faraday industry sprints also relate to battery degradation and will deliver within 6 to 14 months.

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy: Recruitment

Rachel Reeves: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many people were recruited by her Department in the last 12 months; what proportion of those appointments were made outside of London; and where outside of London those appointments were made.

Nadhim Zahawi: The Department has recruited 938 people in the last 12 months (Feb 19 – Jan 20).8.4% of these appointments have been made outside of London, in areas such as Aberdeen, Billingham, Birmingham, Bristol, Cambridge, Cardiff, Ipswich, Manchester, Nottingham, Plymouth and, Swindon.

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy: Recruitment

Rachel Reeves: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many and what proportion of people recruited by her Department’s Partner Organisations were appointed to positions outside of London in the last 12 months; and what the locations were of those appointments.

Nadhim Zahawi: As of July 2019, the Department’s 40 Partner Organisations employed approximately 30,950 full time staff, of which 84% were based outside London.

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy: Recruitment

Rachel Reeves: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many people were recruited by her Department in the last 12 months, by (a) gender and (b) ethnicity at each grade level.

Nadhim Zahawi: The tables below show the gender and ethnicity splits of new employees at my Department over the last 12 months (Feb 19 – Jan 20). As per departmental policy, numbers below 5 have been redacted.  GradeFemaleMaleGrand TotalAO211233EO7360133HEO144145289SEO8075155G7112116228G6323668SCS 1101323SCS 2347SCS 322Grand Total477461938  GradeBAMEWhitePrefer not to sayNot DeclaredGrand TotalAO613=1333EO2649=57133HEO491268106289SEO2656=70155G730109980228G6834=2568SCS 1=11=623SCS 2 = =7SCS 3 = ==Total938

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy: Staff

Rachel Reeves: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what proportion of her Department’s policy roles are based outside of London.

Nadhim Zahawi: As of 31st January 2020, 8% of policy roles in the Department were based outside London. The current distribution of our workforce reflects legacy decisions about office locations and role placements. We are committed to working with the Places for Growth Programme, Beyond Whitehall, and other related initiatives, as part of the Government Estates Strategy.

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy: Recruitment

Rachel Reeves: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what progress her Department has made (a) on the Beyond Whitehall programme and (b) in providing more policy professional roles outside London, in the last 12 months.

Nadhim Zahawi: The Department is working with the Beyond Whitehall programme and wider Government initiatives to create and relocate policy roles outside of London in a managed, sustainable way. We are reviewing our presence across the UK, as well as increasing inclusivity in policy making, so policy is inclusive of the citizens it represents. In consultation with the Cabinet Office and trade unions, we will shortly agree a strategy for delivering more job opportunities outside London.

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy: Staff

Rachel Reeves: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many people her Department employs (a) in London and (b) outside of London.

Nadhim Zahawi: As of 31st January 2020, the Department employs 4,429 people, of which 4,048 are in London and 381 outside London, excluding contractors and temporary staff. The current distribution of our workforce reflects legacy decisions about office locations and role placements. The Department is committed to working with the Places for Growth Programme, Beyond Whitehall, and other initiatives as part of the Government Estates Strategy.

Loneliness

Vicky Foxcroft: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, with reference to the Answer of 30 October 2019 to Question 3780 on Loneliness, whether her Department has published examples of good employer practice in tackling loneliness.

Kelly Tolhurst: Government continues to work with the Campaign to End Loneliness to gather examples of employer good practice in tackling loneliness. As reported in the Loneliness Annual Report published in January, we intend to publish a good practice guide in Spring 2020.

Loneliness

Vicky Foxcroft: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, with reference to the Answer of 30 October 2019 to Question 3777 on loneliness, how many employers have signed the Campaign to End Loneliness Pledge to date.

Kelly Tolhurst: Since October 2019, we have continued to engage with a range of organisations through the Employers Leadership Group and others including the Federation of Small Businesses, Contact the Elderly and TalkTalk, to draw together examples of good practice in tackling loneliness. Thirty employers have so far signed the Campaign to End Loneliness Pledge. BEIS and Campaign to End Loneliness are in contact with a number of others who are considering signing up.

Self-employed: West Midlands

Mr Andrew Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps her Department is taking to support self-employed people in the West Midlands.

Kelly Tolhurst: We want to make sure that the UK is the best place in the world to work and grow a business. Our long-term plan is to support entrepreneurs, including self-employed individuals who are running or considering starting up a business, not just in the West Midlands, but in all parts of the UK. That’s why we are backing businesses right across the country, with 381,000 new businesses starting last year, and the government-owned British Business Bank supporting over 91,000 SMEs with £7 billion of finance. The British Business Bank’s Start Up Loans programme provides loans to entrepreneurs seeking to start and grow their own businesses. The British Business Bank delivered more than 69,000 Start-Up Loans since 2012, providing more than £558m of funding, in every part of the United Kingdom The West Midlands has received 5,788 loans totalling over £44.8m and your constituency of Sutton Coldfield has received 101 loans totalling over £878,000.Additionally, self-employed business people can access tailored advice and support through the 38 local Growth Hubs. They can also access support through our Gov.uk website and the Business Support Helpline (0300 456 3565). The West Midlands Local Industrial Strategy, published in May 2019, sets out a shared ambition to build on the region’s distinctive strengths to drive growth and ensure that all communities benefit from that growth, including the self-employed. Self-employed mothers who qualify for Maternity Allowance are also now able to share parental leave and pay with an employed father or partner. In addition, the Government has increased the personal allowance from £11,500 to £12,500 (benefiting employed and self-employed taxpayers) and self-employed people are now able to build their entitlement to the new State Pension at the same rate as employed people.

Patents: Applications

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, for what reasons a Patent application takes a minimum of two years to be examined and granted.

Nadhim Zahawi: We recognise the need to offer a timely service to those who need it, alongside a flexible service that allows applicants to develop their technology as their patent application progresses. We also offer a prompt grant option. Applicants have up to two years to request examination of their application; they can request to accelerate their application if a suitable reason is provided, enabling a patent to be examined and granted in less than a year.

Intellectual Property: Industry

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment she has made of the effect of the Industrial Strategy on the protection of intellectual property.

Chris Skidmore: The Government wants the UK to be the most innovative economy in the world and be the best place in which to start and grow a business. The UK’s world-leading IP framework has a key role to play in this. As part of the Industrial Strategy the Intellectual Property Office (IPO) carried out a call for views seeking ways to maximise the incentives of the IP system to stimulate collaborative and increase licensing opportunities for IP rights. A number of interventions were implemented as a result to ensure that the IP framework continues to underpin and support the UK’s innovation economy. The IPO has made it a priority to explore the opportunities and challenges posed by emerging technologies and has also worked with industry to address issues outlined in the Sector deals such as that of the Creative Industries. In addition, the IPO has been working to integrate IP into the developing Local Industrial Strategies under the Place Foundation.

Royal Mail: Industrial Disputes

Alex Sobel: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent discussion (a) she and (b) officials in her Department has had with representatives from the Communication Workers Union on avoiding industrial action by Royal Mail employees.

Kelly Tolhurst: BEIS Ministers and officials have regular discussions with stakeholders on a number of issues.

Royal Mail: Industrial Disputes

Alex Sobel: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps he is taking to mitigate the effect of potential industrial action by the Communication and Workers Union in relation to Royal Mail.

Kelly Tolhurst: This is an industrial relations matter for Royal Mail and the Communication Workers Union to settle. The Government encourages both sides to reach an amicable agreement. Talking is the best way to avoid industrial action and any disruption to businesses and consumers.

Nuclear Reactors: Research

Patrick Grady: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the effect on (a) Culham Centre for Fusion Energy and (b) other UK nuclear research-related grant holders of losing access to the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor after the conclusion of the current contracts.

Nadhim Zahawi: The UK will remain a world-leader in fusion science. We recently approved an ambitious commitment to fund £220 million towards the first five-year phase of UK Atomic Energy Authority’s STEP programme. This phase will complete detailed design and development work, ensuring the UK’s fantastic nuclear researchers are well placed to deliver the world’s first commercial fusion power plant by 2040. UK companies have secured around £500 million in commercial contracts from ITER in areas including remote handling, plasma heating, and diagnostics; we are well positioned to deliver more before operations commence in 2025. UK academics and researchers are valued ITER partners, including those at Culham Centre for Fusion Energy. The UK will continue to participate in ITER via Fusion for Energy until the end of 2020. Beyond the Transition Period, we are open to participating in specific EU programmes where it is in the UK’s interests. The Euratom Research and Training Programme, including membership of Fusion for Energy, will be considered alongside other EU programmes.

Small Business Commissioner: Powers

Bill Esterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what discussions she has had with the Interim Small Business Commissioner on giving the future, permanent post holder, powers of binding arbitration to ensure prompt payment for small businesses.

Bill Esterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps her Department is taking to strengthen the powers of the small business commissioner in order to improve support for small businesses dealing with late payment issues.

Kelly Tolhurst: The Government is completely focussed on fulfilling our manifesto commitment to clamp down on late payment and strengthen the powers of the Small Business Commissioner (SBC) to support small businesses that are exploited by their larger partners. Good progress is being made on the policies I announced in our Government Response to the 2018 Call for Evidence to assess what further steps and intervention may be needed to create a responsible payment culture, which included: consulting on the merits of strengthening the Commissioner’s existing powers, to assist and advocate for small businesses in the area of late payments; andstrengthening and reforming the Prompt Payment Code and moving its administration to the Office of the SBC. BEIS Officials work closely, and meet regularly, with the Interim Commissioner and his team and share any relevant policy developments, as set out in the Small Business Commissioner Framework Document.

Arts: Copyright and Intellectual Property

Tracy Brabin: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps he is taking to protect copyright and intellectual property for the creative industries in future trade negotiations.

Nadhim Zahawi: The Government recognises the significant contribution that creative industries make to the UK economy and have consulted with industry stakeholders on intellectual property and trade. Our intellectual property regime is consistently rated as one of the best in the world. Any future trade agreement must achieve a balanced outcome for creators, producers, performers, users, and consumers, in line with international standards.

Pay

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps she is taking to ensure employees in receipt of salary levels below statutory minimum levels are given the appropriate salary increases.

Kelly Tolhurst: The Government is committed to ensuring that everyone entitled to National Living Wage (NLW) and National Minimum Wage (NMW) receives it. This is why we have more than doubled the compliance and enforcement budget for the NMW and NLW to £27.4 million for 2019/20, up from £13.2 million in 2015/16. In 2018/19, HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) identified a record £24.4 million in minimum wage arrears for over 220,000 workers and issued over £17 million in penalties to non-compliant employers. HMRC use a range of techniques ranging from ‘nudge’ letters in low risk cases to criminal prosecution in the most egregious cases of underpayment. Without fail, HMRC investigate where they believe an employer is not paying the minimum wage, which includes following up every worker complaint they receive.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Lobsters: Tristan da Cunha

Lloyd Russell-Moyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he plans to have with his EU counterparts to ensure that the gourmet lobster trade industry in Tristan da Cunha is not affected by EU tariffs imposed after the transition period.

Christopher Pincher: The Government has always been clear that we are committed to engaging Overseas Territories as the UK exits the EU, to ensure that their interests and priorities are properly taken into account.We are seeking a bold and ambitious Free Trade Agreement with the EU and want to have the greatest possible tariff- and barrier-free trade with our European neighbours, so that our companies, including those operating in the Tristan da Cunha lobster industry, have the maximum freedom to trade with and operate within European markets.We also welcome the substantive input we have received from the Tristan da Cunha Government as the United Kingdom prepares for negotiations with the EU.

Cayman Islands: Ports

Lloyd Russell-Moyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what support his Department is providing to the Cayman Islands Government in relation to that Government's referendum on a new cruise port facility.

Christopher Pincher: Port redevelopment is an area of devolved responsibility to the elected Government of the Cayman Islands. A Judicial Review on the Cayman Islands Referendum Law was heard on 22-23 January, with the judgment expected later this month. As this is a devolved matter and currently subject to Judicial Review it would not be appropriate for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office to intervene. The United Kingdom Electoral Commission has provided advice to the Government of the Cayman Islands and the Governor's Office has previously arranged for observers from the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association to oversee the referendum.

Cayman Islands: Natural Disasters

Lloyd Russell-Moyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what support the UK has provided to the Cayman Islands to help (a) prevent significant damage from and (b) respond to (i) earthquakes and (ii) other future natural disasters.

Christopher Pincher: The British Government works closely with its Overseas Territories, including the Cayman Islands, to help build local resilience to disasters. The Governor's Office and Hazard Management Cayman Islands jointly develop policy and deliver operational responses to disasters.Recent initiatives include a Foreign and Commonwealth Office funded project to develop a more effective early warning system to provide timely information to the public during sudden onset disasters such as earthquakes and tsunamis. The Governor's Office alongside the Ministry of Defence are also developing a new Defence Regiment in the Cayman Islands which will provide a step change in the support available to the civilian authorities following a disaster. In addition the United Kingdom is supporting projects on public information campaigns, training for first responders and the provision of new satellite emergency communications equipment. In 2019 the United Kingdom part funded the purchase and running costs of a new helicopter for the Royal Cayman Islands Police Air Operations Unit. This enables the authorities to provide effective damage assessments, search and rescue and medevac services in Cayman and other British Overseas Territories following disasters. The helicopter was used to provide emergency relief in the Bahamas following Hurricane Dorian in 2019 and for damage assessments following the earthquake which struck the Cayman Islands on 28 January. The Royal Fleet Auxiliary ship, RFA Mounts Bay, has been deployed to the region for the past 3 years and has provided immediate humanitarian assistance to the three British Overseas Territories, Anguilla, the BVI and TCI which were devastated by Hurricanes Irma and Maria in 2017 as well as to the Bahamas in the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Dorian in 2019. RFA Mounts Bay will be replaced in March 2020 by other Ministry of Defence naval vessel.

Turks and Caicos Islands: National Security

Lloyd Russell-Moyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what support he has offered to Turks and Caicos to help the development of a new national security strategy.

Christopher Pincher: The United Kingdom played an instrumental role in supporting development of a new National Security Strategy in the Turks and Caicos Islands (TCI), launched jointly by the Governor and Premier of TCI on 22 January. Alongside the strategy's launch, Sandhurst Military Academy ran a week-long national security training exercise, undertaken by senior officials across TCI government and regional partners.A Security Advisor from the United Kingdom is currently seconded to TCI to coordinate work around national security; having led work to build on the initial steps taken by TCI's policing and Joint Law Enforcement Teams to develop the finalised National Security Strategy.The Premier of TCI has expressed her thanks for the United Kingdom's support in implementing the National Security Strategy. As part of our ongoing commitment, the United Kingdom is also supporting the establishment of a defence force which will assist the maritime police to protect the Territory's borders.While the United Kingdom retains reserve responsibilities for national security, this mutually supportive relationship will best serve the interests of the Overseas Territories.

Turkey: Human Rights

Chris Law: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether he has made an assessment of the veracity of the evidence for the charges against the Büyükada group of activists in Turkey; and if he will make a statement.

Christopher Pincher: The British Government remains concerned by the ongoing trial of the Büyükada group of human rights defenders (HRDs) in Turkey. We have been closely following the case since it first came to court in 2017. We note the next hearing is on 19 February. As a modern democracy we expect Turkey to undertake any legal processes fairly, transparently and with full respect for the rule of law and we consistently reiterate this message to our Turkish counterparts at all levels.We have long encouraged Turkey to work towards the full protection of fundamental rights, particularly in the area of freedom of expression. On 28 January at the 35th Universal Periodic Review on Human Rights, one of the recommendations that the United Kingdom put forward for Turkey is protecting freedom of expression, including for journalists and human rights defenders, by decriminalising defamation. We will continue to engage the Turkish Government on these issues and be clear in our expectation that Turkey live up to its human rights obligations, which is essential to the long-term health of Turkish democracy.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office: Disclosure of Information

Rosie Duffield: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, with reference to the 2018 Aid Transparency Index published by Publish What You Fund, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the categorisation of his Department as poor; and if his Department will (a) publish data to the International Aid Transparency Initiative each quarter and (b) take steps to improve the quality of that data.

Christopher Pincher: A 2019 aid transparency assessment by Publish What You Fund categorised the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) rating as Fair following improvements in the way the FCO publishes data. The FCO is committed to continuing to invest in aid transparency. Since 2018 we have improved the way we publish data, in particular ensuring that data is released quarterly. This contributed to our increased score in the latest assessment. We recognise that we still have more to do and are currently considering how to make further improvements in the light of the 2019 assessment's findings.

British Overseas Territories: Civil Partnerships

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, which Overseas Territories have introduced legislation to allow civil partnerships.

Christopher Pincher: Nine Overseas Territories have legal recognition and protection for same-sex relationships. Same-sex marriage is legal in the Falkland Islands, Gibraltar, Bermuda, Pitcairn Islands and St Helena, Ascension Island, and Tristan da Cunha. The Premier of the Cayman Islands has publicly undertaken to bring in domestic partnerships by early this year. The laws in the uninhabited territories of the British Indian Ocean Territory, British Antarctic Territory and South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands also allow for same-sex marriage.In the Sovereign Base Areas of Akrotiri and Dhekelia, civil partnerships have been allowed for United Kingdom military and civilian personnel.

Attorney General

Attorney General: Work Experience

Seema Malhotra: To ask the Attorney General, how many people aged (a) 16 and under and (b) over 16 years old undertook work experience in his Department in each of the last three years.

Michael Ellis: The Civil Service aims to increase opportunities for people of all backgrounds and create a Civil Service fit for 21st century Britain through work experience, internships and apprenticeship schemes. However, the confidentially of work undertaken at the Attorney General’s Office makes offering work experience opportunities difficult. For people aged 16 and under there was the following number of work experience placements: 2017: 02018: 02019: 0 For people over 16 years old there was the following number of work experience placements: 2017: 02018: 02019: 0

Department of Health and Social Care

Cancer: Health Services

Edward Timpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans he has to increase the range of skills in the cancer workforce (a) by supporting the expansion of the responsibilities of advanced clinical practitioner roles and (b) through other steps.

Jo Churchill: Health Education England published its first ever Cancer Workforce Plan in December 2017, which commits to the expansion of capacity and skills. The upcoming NHS People Plan will set out further actions to secure the National Health Service staff and cancer workforce we need for the future.

Vaccination: Medical Records

Sir Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to (a) improve the accuracy of patient records for immunisations and (b) standardise the invite-reminder systems utilised by GP practices across England.

Jo Churchill: To improve patient record accuracy, the National Health Service is developing a platform that will enable immunisation information to be shared across approved systems. Following this, work will be initiated to support the delivery of reminder functionality that is of use to both GP practices and to individuals. This is in addition to updates to the 2020/2021 general practitioner (GP) contract, published on 6 February, which aim to ensure that call/recall services are being delivered in line with published standards and to move towards text-based reminders.

Tobacco: Packaging

Carla Lockhart: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans he has to amend regulations on the packaging of tobacco products.

Jo Churchill: The Government has a statutory obligation to conduct Post Implementation Reviews to assess the impact of tobacco regulations on both the Standardised Packaging of Tobacco Products Regulations 2015 and the Tobacco and Related Products Regulations 2016 by May 2021. The Department will also review the United Kingdom tobacco and e-cigarette regulatory framework so it continues to protect the nation’s health and support the prevention Green Paper ambition to make England smoke-free by 2030.

Mycoplasma Genitalium and Trichomoniasis: Testing

James Murray: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, will he take steps  to ensure that  health clinics in England are funded to test for (a) mycoplasma genitalium and (b) trichomoniasis.

James Murray: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the cost of (a) successfully treating antibiotic resistant gonorrhoea and (b) treating strains of gonorrhoea that are not resistant to commonly used antimicrobials.

Jo Churchill: The Government provides funding to local authorities for public health services, including sexual health services, through the public health grant. It is for local authorities to determine how the public health grant is allocated in their local areas to meet their needs. Sexual health service providers should ensure commissioned services are in line with current national guidance, standards of training and care and quality indicators. British Association for Sexual Health and HIV guidelines recommend testing for mycoplasma genitalium and trichomonas vaginalis where clinically indicated. Further information is available at the following link:https://www.bashh.org/media/4429/bashh-standards-for-sti-management-2019.pdfThe Department has made no estimate of the cost of treating antibiotic resistant gonorrhoea and treating strains of gonorrhoea that are not resistant to commonly used antimicrobials.

Cervical Cancer: Screening

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans he has to improve access to cervical cancer screenings for disabled women requiring hoists in GP surgeries.

Jo Churchill: General practitioner practices are required to ensure that their premises are suitable for the delivery of essential services and that they are sufficient to meet the reasonable needs of its patients, including those with disabilities. This involves making any necessary reasonable adjustments; making alternative arrangements, such as referral to a specialist screening provider; or undertaking the procedures in another setting that is more suitable given any limitations to a patient’s mobility. Where a patient requires specialist equipment, clinical staff will ensure that patients have access to its use in a safe environment.NHS England is continuously investing in initiatives to help ensure equality of access to screening and, through the Section 7A public health functions agreement, aims to improve public health outcomes and reduce inequalities.Professor Sir Mike Richards’ review of Adult Screening programmes was published on 16 October 2019 and recognised that people with physical disabilities, learning disabilities or mental health conditions tend to have lower uptake of screening programmes than the general population. Professor Richards’ report included recommendations on improving access to services and sharing good practice on physical and learning disabilities. The Department is considering the report with NHS England and Public Health England and will publish an implementation plan in the spring.

Music Therapy: Vacancies

Dr Rosena Allin-Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate his Department has made of the number of vacancies for music therapists in the NHS in each year from 2015 to 2020; and what recent steps his Department has taken to support the recruitment of music therapists to the NHS.

Jo Churchill: The number of vacancies for music therapists in the National Health Service is not held centrally. NHS Improvement collects vacancy data for three staff groups; doctors, nurses and ‘other staff’. These published vacancy statistics are not broken down by the different specialties and professions e.g. allied health professions.The NHS People Plan work programme is completing a review of all allied health professions. This will look at both the current and future capacity need for the allied health professions including music therapists.

Prescriptions: Universal Credit

Kate Osamor: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will take steps to include on the NHS prescription form, a box to signify that the applicant is claiming universal credit.

Jo Churchill: The new FP10 National Health Service prescription form, which includes a tick box for Universal Credit claimants who meet the criteria for free prescriptions, is now being printed and distributed to the NHS.

Cancer: Health Services

Jane Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to ensure the NHS has adequate (a) staff and (b) skills to support new and innovative models of delivery for cancer services.

Jo Churchill: Health Education England (HEE) published its first ever Cancer Workforce Plan in December 2017, which commits to the expansion of capacity and skills. The upcoming NHS People Plan will set out further actions to secure the National Health Service staff and cancer workforce we need for the future.

Electronic Cigarettes: Children and Young People

Sir Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of trends in the level of vaping amongst children and young people; and what the implications are for the NHS with respect to the future treatment of young and adult patients with disorders associated with vaping.

Jo Churchill: While experimentation with e-cigarettes is not uncommon among young people, current and regular use remains low. E-cigarettes in the United Kingdom are tightly regulated by the Tobacco and Related Products Regulations 2016 (TRPR) and the Nicotine Inhaling Products (Age of Sale and Proxy Purchasing) Regulations 2015 (NIP). These regulations aim to reduce the risk of harm to children; to protect against any risk of renormalisation of tobacco use; and to provide assurance on relative safety for users. The regulations include restrictions on mainstream TV and radio advertising; prevent sale to under 18s; and limit both tank sizes and nicotine content. We are monitoring youth use closely and will take action, if necessary, to ensure that regular use among children and young people does not increase, and that e-cigarettes do not become a gateway to tobacco use. The Government has a statutory obligation to conduct post implementation reviews of TRPR by May 2021 and NIP later this spring. We continue to keep the evidence base on e-cigarettes under review and the next Public Health England annual review is due to be published later this month.

General Practitioners: Staff

Bridget Phillipson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many full-time equivalent GP clinical staff there were in (a) Houghton and Sunderland South constituency, (b) the North East and (c) England in 2018-2019.

Jo Churchill: An error has been identified in the written answer given on 11 February 2020.The correct answer should have been:

The number (headcount) of doctors (excluding locums), direct patient care practitioners and nurses in general practice who worked full time and part time according to their weekly contracted hours in general practices in NHS Sunderland Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), North East and Yorkshire NHS region and England on 30 September 2018 and 2019 is attached. NHS Sunderland CCG includes Houghton and Sunderland South constituency but does not map directly to the borders. North East and Yorkshire NHS region was formed in April 2019 therefore no data exists for this region prior to this date. The data is divided by those who are contracted to work 15 hours or less, more than 15 but less than 37.5 hours, and more than 37.5 hours per week. General practitioner (GP) locums are excluded as improvements have been made to GP locum recording methodology and figures are not comparable across the time series.


Number of clinical staff in the north east
(Word Document, 22.5 KB)




PQ13519 TABLE Clinical staff 
(Word Document, 70.5 KB)

Jo Churchill: The number (headcount) of doctors (excluding locums), direct patient care practitioners and nurses in general practice who worked full time and part time according to their weekly contracted hours in general practices in NHS Sunderland Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), North East and Yorkshire NHS region and England on 30 September 2018 and 2019 is attached. NHS Sunderland CCG includes Houghton and Sunderland South constituency but does not map directly to the borders. North East and Yorkshire NHS region was formed in April 2019 therefore no data exists for this region prior to this date. The data is divided by those who are contracted to work 15 hours or less, more than 15 but less than 37.5 hours, and more than 37.5 hours per week. General practitioner (GP) locums are excluded as improvements have been made to GP locum recording methodology and figures are not comparable across the time series.


Number of clinical staff in the north east
(Word Document, 22.5 KB)




PQ13519 TABLE Clinical staff 
(Word Document, 70.5 KB)

Department of Health and Social Care: Offshore Funds

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether (a) members of his Departmental Board and (b) senior executives are required to disclose their offshore bank accounts and holdings.

Caroline Dinenage: Ministers and Civil Servants must uphold the standards of conduct as set out in the Ministerial and Civil Service Code respectively, as well as the seven principles of public life.

Contraceptives: Shortages

John Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, for what reasons there is a shortage of contraceptive drugs; what steps his Department is taking to tackle that shortage; and what lessons his Department has learnt to prevent a shortage of contraceptive drugs in the future.

Jo Churchill: We are aware of manufacturing problems affecting supply of a limited number of contraceptive preparations. Most contraceptive medicines and products remain available, including alternatives to those experiencing supply issues.We have been working closely with affected suppliers of contraceptive medicines to maintain overall supply to patients and have provided regular updates about the supply issues and management advice to the National Health Service.We understand the importance of maintaining access to contraceptives medicines to people in this country and are working with all relevant stakeholders to resolve the supply issues as soon as possible. We will continue to monitor the supply situation closely and to work with all suppliers to put contingency measures in place to ensure a continued supply of these products.

Coronavirus

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will allocate funding to the testing of filtration systems to tackle and protect against the coronavirus.

Jo Churchill: We are investing £40 million in vaccine research, are working with international efforts on therapeutics, as well as the immediate launch of a capital facility to support any urgent works the National Health Service needs for the coronavirus response, such as the creation of further isolation areas and other necessary facilities. The United Kingdom will escalate efforts to fund ground-breaking research into vaccines, diagnostics and cures to fight against the threat of future virus.We have no current plans to allocate funding to the testing of filtration systems.

Feilding Palmer Hospital Lutterworth

Alberto Costa: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans his Department has for the future of Feilding Palmer Hospital in Lutterworth.

Edward Argar: The local clinical commissioning groups have made no decisions with regard to any community hospitals in Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland. They are now considering changing services to help more people be cared for at home and in local communities.Patients, carers, staff and stakeholders will continue to be involved in the redesign process through a variety of engagement activities. If any of the proposals being developed require a public consultation, then this will be undertaken with local communities including in Lutterworth.

King's College Hospital: Accident and Emergency Departments

Ms Harriet Harman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the average waiting time has been for people attending the A&E department at the King’s College Hospital Denmark Hill site in each of the last five years.

Edward Argar: The information is not available in the format requested.

London Ambulance Service NHS Trust: Emergency Calls

Ms Harriet Harman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what proportion of calls were responded to within the target timeframe by the London Ambulance Service NHS Trust in each of the categories measured (a) in the area covered by that Trust and (b) in the London Borough of Southwark.

Edward Argar: The information is not available in the format requested.

Menopause

Ms Harriet Harman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to ensure (a) all health care practitioners are trained in menopause and (b) that menopause guidance is introduced into workplaces in England.

Caroline Dinenage: To help ensure women receive the best possible care, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) published a guideline on the diagnosis and treatment of menopause in November 2015. This set out the support, information and treatments needed to address the often debilitating symptoms that women suffer.The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG) and the Royal College of General Practitioners also have important roles to play in relation to awareness of, and clinical practice relating to, menopause. Recently in December 2019, the RCOG published ‘Better for Women’ which calls for a life course approach and includes a focus on general health during and after the menopause.We encourage employers to rise to the challenge by creating supportive and flexible ways to help those living with these conditions.Whilst curricula for training healthcare professionals do not necessarily highlight specific conditions for them to be aware of, they do emphasise the skills and approaches that professionals must develop in order to ensure accurate and timely diagnoses and treatment plans for their patients.

Royal Shrewsbury Hospital: Recruitment

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the effect of delays to Shropshire's reconfiguration of future fit services on recruitment at Royal Shrewsbury Hospital.

Edward Argar: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave him on 28 January 2020 to Question 5374.

Infant Foods: Marketing

Anneliese Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what representations he has made to the World Health Organisation on its decision that biennial reporting of controls on marketing of baby formulas and foods should end in 2026.

Jo Churchill: The World Health Organization (WHO) is reforming its governance systems, including proposals to consolidate reporting requirements for numerous and often overlapping resolutions across the Organization’s broad health mandate, and to suggest an end date for reporting where one was not specified.We support efforts by WHO to reform its governance processes, as this will make reporting on progress more efficient, strategic and impactful. In addition, this process will not prevent member states requesting further future reports and World Health Assembly agenda items on the International Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes beyond 2026.

Flour: Additives

Carla Lockhart: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent discussions his Department has had with the devolved Administrations on the mandatory fortification of flour.

Jo Churchill: Departmental officials have been in regular discussions with their counterparts in each of the devolved administrations regarding the proposal to fortify flour with folic acid to help prevent neural tube defects in foetuses. The public consultation was a joint one with the devolved administrations who were equally involved in the formation of it. During the pre-election period in Westminster, preparation of the Government response was put on hold, but discussions are now continuing with the devolved administrations and further information will be announced in due course.

Home Care Services: Storms

Alex Norris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the effect of Storm Ciara on the provision of home care in (a) Nottingham North constituency and (b) England.

Caroline Dinenage: No such assessment has been made.

Epidermolysis Bullosa

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many people have a diagnosis of epidermolysis bullosa.

Jo Churchill: Epidermolysis bullosa comprises a group of rare inherited skin disorders in which the skin blisters extremely easily. Information on diagnosis is not held in the format requested.

Abortion: Down's Syndrome

Fiona Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many abortions took place after the diagnosis of Down's Syndrome in each of the last 10 years; and at what weeks gestation those abortions took place.

Fiona Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many abortions took place after the diagnosis of clubfoot in each the last 10 years; and at what weeks gestation those abortions took place.

Fiona Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many abortions took place after the diagnosis of Tarsal coalition in each of the last 10 years; and at what weeks gestation those abortions took place.

Fiona Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many abortions took place after the diagnosis of hammer toe in each of the last 10 years; and at what weeks gestation those abortions took place.

Caroline Dinenage: The number of legal abortions which took place in England and Wales after the diagnosis of Down’s Syndrome in each of the last 10 years by week of gestation is attached. Information on abortions for club foot, hammer toe or tarsal coalition is not held in the format requested.



Abortion figures for Down's Syndrome
(Excel SpreadSheet, 22.13 KB)

Dementia: Health Services

Debbie Abrahams: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 4 February 2020 to Question 10385 on Dementia: Health Services, when the Government plans to publish the Implementation Plan for the review of the Challenge on Dementia to take that strategy forward from 2020 to 2025.

Caroline Dinenage: We have no plans to publish an implementation plan for the review of the Challenge on Dementia 2020.We will be setting out our plans on dementia for England for the period 2020-2025 later this year.

MMR Vaccine

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of trends in the uptake of the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine in the last five years.

Jo Churchill: Between 2013/14 and 2018/19 coverage for one Measles, Mumps and Rubella (MMR) vaccine dose at 24 months decreased 2.4% points from 92.7% to 90.3%. Coverage for two doses, at five years of age, decreased 1.9% points from 88.3% in 2013/14 to 86.4% in 2018/19. Coverage of the first dose by five years of age in England has been more or less stable from 2015 to 2018 reaching the World Health Organization’s target level of 95% for the first-time in 2016-17 but dropping to 94.9% in 2017-18. The following table shows uptake of the MMR vaccine at first dose at 24 months and in five year olds, and second dose in five year olds in England since 2013/14. -24 monthsFive yearsFive years-% MMR (1st Dose)% MMR (1st Dose)% MMR (1st and 2nd Dose)2013-1492.794.188.32014-1592.394.488.62015-1691.994.888.22016-1791.695.087.62017-1891.294.987.22018-1990.394.586.4Source:https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/nhs-immunisation-statistics/england-2018-19

Department for Education

Education and Training: Contracts

Emma Hardy: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what data his Department uses to improve its subcontracting arrangements for the education and training of learners over the age of 16; and if he will publish that data.

Michelle Donelan: The Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) publish a list of declared subcontractors that hold contracts worth £100,000 or more in aggregate with one or more ESFA-funded provider of adult education and training services, including apprenticeships and traineeships. The list shows subcontractors with their lead or main provider/s and the individual values of their contracts. The list is based on data taken from subcontractor declarations that lead or main providers submit to us each year. The list is available at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/subcontracting-using-funding-to-offer-education-and-training#providing-external-assurance-on-subcontracting-controls.The subcontractor declarations and the list of declared subcontractors allows lead and main providers to understand the contractual commitments of their current and potential subcontractors. The data provided also feeds into the ESFA risk assessments of providers. This subcontractor declaration information has informed our current subcontractor review and consultation.

Sign Language: GCSE

Carla Lockhart: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what progress he is making on introducing a GCSE in British Sign Language.

Nick Gibb: ​The Department is currently working with subject experts to develop draft subject content for a potential British Sign Language GCSE. We are working with Ofqual, the independent qualifications regulator, to ensure that the subject content can be assessed appropriately and will be working with stakeholders to ensure that a wide range of views is reflected. Subject to being able to develop subject content which meets the rigorous requirements which apply to all GCSEs, we are aiming to consult publicly on draft content later this year.Once final subject content has been published, individual exam boards can develop a specification if they wish. Ofqual would need to accredit any such specification before it could be taught in schools.

Teaching Excellence Framework Independent Review

Emma Hardy: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the timeframe is for the publication Dame Shirley Pearce's  report on the independent review of the teaching excellence framework.

Nick Gibb: The Higher Education and Research Act 2017 requires that the report of the independent review of the Teaching Excellence and Student Outcomes Framework should be laid before Parliament.The reviewer, Dame Shirley Pearce, has submitted her report to ministers. The Government is considering the report’s evidence and recommendations. We intend to lay the report in due course, and publish it alongside the government’s response.

Students: Personal Records

Emma Hardy: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what information his Department holds on the number of (a) further and (b) higher education students who have been affected by the breech of confidential data from the learner records service.

Nick Gibb: Whilst the Information Commissioner’s investigation is still on-going, we believe that no actual student data has been shared other than to confirm or deny whether there is a student record for individuals held within the Learner Records Service.

Students: Personal Records

Emma Hardy: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to his oral contribution of 20 January 2020, Official Report, column 17, what the timescale is for the investigation into the breach of data from the learner records service.

Nick Gibb: The department aims to conclude its internal investigation soon. The department continues to support the Information Commissioner’s Office in its investigation.

Children: Social Services

David Simmonds: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the scope is of the review of the care system; whether that review will make an assessment of the potential merits of (a) amending the Children Act 1989 and other proposals for changes to legislation and (b) the decisions of the Scottish and Welsh Government to remove the reasonable chastisement defence; and if it will consult lead members for children's services that have statutory and political responsibilities for children's social care in their area.

Michelle Donelan: The care review is a fundamental part of the government’s Manifesto. We are moving forward with plans to undertake this at the earliest opportunity. This includes considering the review’s scope, which has yet to be finalised but which we will confirm in due course. The scope will be broad and bold and take a fundamental look across children’s social care, with the aim of better supporting, protecting and improving the outcomes of vulnerable children and young people. My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education announced that the review would be independently led in a written statement on 12 February, which is available at the following link: https://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-statement/Commons/2020-02-12/HCWS110/. The review scope will need to be developed alongside the independent leadership of the review. We anticipate that the review will involve a wide range of figures with experience both within and around local agencies, in addition to the lived experience of children, young people and families.

Schools: Buildings

Vicky Foxcroft: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the Answer of 30 October 2019 to Question 3668 on Schools: Buildings, when his Department plans to issue guidance to schools on the use of their premises for community use.

Nick Gibb: The Department intends to publish guidance on income generation later this year.The Department is developing this resource, which will include advice on how schools can use their premises for the community and set out other types of income generation such as letting out premises, working with local businesses, selling goods and services, and applying for grants.The Department’s aim is to inform schools in their ability to generate income and help them build strong community links at the same time.

Pupils: Sanitary Protection

Alex Sobel: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether it remains the Government's policy to introduce free sanitary products in (a) secondary schools and (b) further education colleges.

Michelle Donelan: On 20 January 2020, the department launched a new scheme which makes free period products available for state-funded primary schools, secondary schools and colleges in England. This is an important step to ensure that menstruation does not present a barrier to learning and that no one is held back from reaching their potential. This scheme is part of a wider programme of work, led by the cross-sector Period Poverty taskforce, with the vision to eliminate period poverty and shame around menstruation in the UK by 2025.

Special Educational Needs

Alex Chalk: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans his department has to review the (a) Education and Skills Funding Agency and (b) Teachers' Pay grant in relation to increased staff ratios required for schools (i) operating a High Need C&I centre and (ii) with high numbers of pupils with an education and health care plan.

Nick Gibb: On behalf of the Secretary of State for Education, the Education and Skills Funding Agency has responsibility to administer funding to deliver education and skills, from early years through to adulthood.In 2018, the teachers’ pay grant was introduced to support schools to implement the 2018 teacher pay award. In 2019, the teachers’ pay grant was increased to support schools to implement the 2019 teacher pay award. It is allocated to schools on a per pupil basis, taking into account their phase and geographical area. In 2020-21, the teachers’ pay grant will be worth over £500 million to schools and local authorities.In respect of pupils with education, health and care plans, local authorities are responsible for covering the costs of additional provision above the first £6,000. Local authorities retain the flexibility to provide extra funding to schools, based on the schools’ individual needs and where there is a strong local rationale for doing so.

Schools: Discipline

Alex Sobel: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether his Department has plans to issue revised guidance to (a) headteachers and (b) school staff on the time limit for pupils being placed in isolation as punishment.

Nick Gibb: ​Our guidance on behaviour and discipline in schools includes advice on using isolation, and states that it is for individual schools to decide how long a pupil should be kept in isolation. The guidance also states that schools should ensure that pupils are kept in isolation no longer than is necessary, and that their time spent there is used as constructively as possible. The schools must also ensure the health and safety of pupils, and any requirements in relation to safeguarding and pupil welfare. The guidance is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/behaviour-and-discipline-in-schools.​

Schools: Discipline

Alex Sobel: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that disciplinary measures used in schools do not harm the mental health of students.

Nick Gibb: All schools are required by law to have a behaviour policy which sets out the behaviour expected of pupils and the sanctions that will be imposed for misbehaviour. Schools may only impose sanctions or penalties that are reasonable and proportionate in all circumstances and must not breach any other legislation, such as in respect of disability, special educational needs, race and other equalities and human rights.The Department’s guidance on behaviour and discipline states that schools should consider whether continuing disruptive behaviour may be the result of an unmet mental health need, in which case a multi-agency referral may be necessary.Guidance on behaviour and discipline is available from: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/behaviour-and-discipline-in-schools.Additionally, in 2018 the Department published updated Mental Health & Behaviour in Schools Guidance, which can be accessed here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/mental-health-and-behaviour-in-schools--2. The purpose of this guidance is to help schools to identify pupils whose behaviour may be the result of an underlying mental health difficulty, and to understand when and how to put in place support.​

Pre-school Education: : Primary Education

Mrs Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether it remains his Department's policy to fund universal infant free school meals; and if he will make a statement.

Michelle Donelan: We are making a significant investment in free school meals for children. Nutritious food in schools helps ensure pupils are well nourished, develop healthy eating habits and can concentrate and learn. We ensure that the most disadvantaged children receive a free healthy lunch at school and in 2019, around 1.3 million disadvantaged children benefitted from this important provision, saving families roughly £400 a year. Free meals were also extended to disadvantaged further education students in September 2014. In addition, universal infant free school meals were introduced in 2014, and the department spends around £600 million each year ensuring 1.4 million infants receive a free meal through this programme. We have confirmed the funding arrangements for this provision for the current academic year, and arrangements for 2020/21 will be confirmed in due course.

Apprentices: Degrees

Kate Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment he has made of the effect of degree apprenticeships on (a) local and (b) national skills needs.

Michelle Donelan: Our reforms to apprenticeships have put employers in the driving seat to design the apprenticeships to support the skills needs of their business, local area, or sector. This is creating an apprenticeship provider market that is highly responsive to the needs of employers, ensuring independent providers, further education colleges, and higher education institutions develop training at all levels to meet these skills needs. We know that employers, providers and apprentices alike are positive about degree apprenticeships. We want to continue to support employers to unlock their potential to improve productivity, bring parity of esteem with other higher education choices, and widen participation in employment and higher education.We are encouraged to see examples of training providers across England working closely with employers and sector bodies to build effective partnerships which are delivering more degree-level apprenticeships each year. Those opportunities are responding to the employment needs of employers and developing hubs of high-quality apprenticeship training that provide the higher-level skills the economy needs.

Universities: Buildings

Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what data his Department holds on the number of non-residential university buildings that are (a) under and (b) over 18m in height that have aluminium composite material cladding.

Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what data his Department holds on the number of non-residential university buildings that are (a) under and (b) over 18m in height that have high pressure laminate cladding.

Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what data his Department holds on the number of non-residential university buildings that are (a) under and (b) over 18m in height that have combustible cladding that is neither high pressure laminate or aluminium composite material.

Nick Gibb: The safety of students and staff across the education estate remains a high priority. Since the Grenfell fire, the department has worked closely with the Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) on fire safety. In line with the cross-government approach, we identified university-owned residential buildings over 18 metres with potentially dangerous aluminium composite material cladding. In the light of updated building safety guidance for owners of residential buildings published on 20 January 2020 by MHCLG, the department will gather any additional information required on residential buildings across the education estate, and we will continue to work with building owners to ensure that any subsequent remediation work, if any, is undertaken. The department does not hold information on cladding of non-residential university buildings.

Science: Primary Education

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to (a) increase the level of science teaching in primary schools and (b) provide additional cost effective training for teachers to teach science at primary school level.

Nick Gibb: Increasing the number of young people who study science is important if we are to address the science technology engineering and maths (STEM) skills shortage and support the UK economy and its growth. Pupils’ experience of science in primary school can impact on their ambitions to pursue a STEM career.This is why the Department has kept sciences a core subject from Key Stage 1 to Key Stage 4. All state-maintained schools must teach the National Curriculum science programmes of study in full, with other state-funded schools such as academies required to teach science as part of a broad and balanced curriculum. In 2014 we introduced a new programme of study for primary science, providing sequenced year-by-year content to ensure appropriate introduction to key scientific concepts and clear articulation of subject knowledge required. The breadth of content ensures that the curriculum provides a strong foundation for further study at secondary school.To support teachers in delivering excellent teaching in science, the Department funds a programme of high quality continuous professional development (CPD) for teachers. This includes our national network of over 40 Science Learning Partnerships, which deliver locally-led training to both primary and secondary teachers. Primary teachers are also eligible for Project Enthuse bursaries to attend residential CPD at the National STEM Learning Centre in York. The bursaries are targeted at schools most in need, including those with poor levels of progress or primary science leads who do not have post-16 science qualifications. Both programmes aim to improve teachers’ subject knowledge and the quality of science teaching.

Special Educational Needs

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to reduce waiting times for children with SEN to access support services.

Michelle Donelan: There is a wide range of support services which children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) and their parents and carers can access.Local authorities are required to make available local services which provide impartial information, advice and support to these families. The government has invested £20 million between June 2018 and March 2020 to improve the quality of these services and their accessibility. The funding also supports a national helpline and online service for families who have children and young people with SEND.More broadly, it is the responsibility of schools and other educational establishments to ensure children and young people with SEND are identified and assessed, and that support is put in place to meet their needs. Some children and young people with SEND will need extra help and may require an Education, Health and Care (EHC) plan. Local authorities are responsible for putting EHC plans in place and for ensuring that the support identified to meet the needs identified in plans is available.The government has increased local authorities’ high needs funding by £780 million in 2020/21, boosting the budget by 12% and bringing the total spent on supporting those with the most complex needs to over £7 billion for 2020-21.However, we recognise that there is work to be done to improve the SEND system, including access to support services and that is why we are conducting a review of the SEND system.

Students: Finance

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will make it his policy for student loans, bursaries, grants and other student finance to be increased to reflect geographic variations in the cost of living.

Nick Gibb: The government has announced that maximum grants and loans for living and other costs will increase by 2.9% for the 2020/21 academic year starting in August 2020.Means-tested grants and loans for living and other costs are a contribution towards a student’s costs while attending university.The current system bases the amount of support a student is entitled to on the student’s household income rather than on family outgoings. It ensures that the most support is targeted consistently at families from the lowest income backgrounds who need it most. It also ensures that information on income for individual applicants can be effectively processed by Student Finance England who deal with more than one million applications for student support in time for the start of an academic year.Maximum loans for living costs for the lowest income students living away from their parents’ home and studying at a university in London are set at a higher level than for students studying outside London or living in their parents’ home. This reflects the higher living costs that students attending courses in London may incur

Erasmus+ Programme

Layla Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether undergraduate students wanting to study abroad in the (a) 2020-21 and (b) 2021-22 academic year will be able to do so through the Erasmus+ scheme.

Layla Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what guidance he has provided to UK universities on preparing student and staff exchanges for the (a) 2020-21 and (b) 2021-22 academic year.

Nick Gibb: Under the Withdrawal Agreement negotiated with the EU, the UK will continue to participate fully in the current (2014-20) Erasmus+ and European Solidarity Corps (ESC) programmes. This means that the projects successfully bid for during the current programmes will continue to receive EU funding for the full duration of the project, including those where funding runs beyond 2020 and the end of the transition period. We expect Higher Education mobilities being bid for in 2020 will include some mobilities for academic year 2020-21 and academic year 2021-22, depending on the specific details of individual projects.The shape and content of EU Programmes post-2020, including Erasmus+, are currently being negotiated within the EU institutions and have not yet been finalised. These EU programmes must be adopted by the EU before any potential formal negotiations on association could begin. The UK is ready to consider participation in certain EU programmes, once the EU has agreed the baseline in its 2021-27 Multiannual Financial Framework, and taking into account the overall value to the UK of doing so.The Department for Education is the national authority for the Erasmus+ programme in the UK. The Department oversees the work of the UK National Agency, which is responsible for the management and delivery of the programme across the UK. The UK National Agency have been issuing guidance to UK universities with the support of the Department for Education.The UK government is preparing for every eventuality and is considering a wide range of options with regard to the future of international exchange and collaboration in education and training, including potential domestic alternatives.

Schools: Transport

Mr Richard Holden: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps the Government is taking to ensure cross-education authority travel provision is provided in rural areas to increase the school choice available to parents.

Nick Gibb: Local authorities (LAs) have a statutory duty to provide free home to school transport for all eligible children. A child is eligible for free home to school transport if they are of compulsory school age and:They attend their nearest suitable school and it is more than the statutory walking distance from their home. The statutory walking distance is 2 miles for children under the age of 8 and 3 miles for children aged 8 and over, or; They attend their nearest suitable school and cannot reasonably be expected to walk there because of their special educational needs, disability or mobility problem, or because the route is unsafe. Transport is provided to the nearest suitable school, regardless of whether that school is in a different LA.There are additional rights to free home to school transport for children from low income households. These are known as ‘extended rights’ and are intended to help low income families exercise school choice in circumstances where transport may otherwise be a barrier. A local authority is required to provide free transport to pupils eligible for free school meals or whose parents are in receipt of maximum working tax credit, and:The nearest suitable school is beyond 2 miles (for children over the age of 8 and under 11), or;The suitable school is between 2 and 6 miles (if aged between 11 and 16, and there are not three or more suitable nearer schools), or;The school is between 2 and 15 miles and is the nearest school preferred on the grounds of religion or belief (aged 11 to 16).

Adoption Support Fund

Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the Adoption Support Fund, how many claims have been received on behalf of previously looked after children on special guardianship orders by financial year; how many of those claims have been successful (a) in total and (b) by local authority area; and what the average amount awarded was for those claims (i) in total and (ii) by local authority area.

Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the Adoption Support Fund, how many claims have been received by financial year; how many of those claims have been successful (a) in total and (b) by local authority area; and what the average amount awarded was for those claims (i) in total and (ii) by local authority area.

Michelle Donelan: As at the end of December 2019, the total number of approved applications on behalf of previously looked-after children on special guardianship orders was 3,619 with an average funding of £3,033. The number of rejected applications was 13 (0.4%). The breakdown by financial year and local authority area is attached.As at December 2019, the total number of approved applications were 42,103 with an average funding of £3,321. The total number of rejected applications was 176 (0.4%). The breakdown by financial year and local authority area is attached.



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Pupil Premium

Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many previously looked after children on a (a) special guardianship order, (b) child arrangements order and (c) residence order and (d) adoption order in each local authority area received a pupil premium plus grant in 2019-20.

Nick Gibb: The numbers of children previously looked after counted for pupil premium plus in each local authority in 2019-20 are shown in the attached table, including the numbers of those on (a) special guardianship order, (b) child arrangements order, (c) residence order and (d) adoption order.



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Overseas Students: EU Nationals

Paul Blomfield: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the potential effect on demand for UK university places from EU students of the UK leaving the EU.

Nick Gibb: EU and non-EU students make an invaluable contribution to the UK’s higher education sector, socially, culturally and financially. This is why the UK Government will continue to welcome international students, working towards the ambition set out in our International Education Strategy, to host 600,000 international students per year by 2030. The Prime Minister has also been clear that he wants to help the UK attract talent from around the world. On May 28 2019, we announced guarantees on student finance for EU nationals. EU nationals (and their family members) who start a course in England in the 2020/21 academic year or before will continue to be eligible for ‘home fee’ status and undergraduate and postgraduate student financial support from Student Finance England for the duration of their course, provided they meet the residency requirement. To further ensure the UK higher education sector remains internationally attractive, my right hon. Friend, the Prime Minister announced the new Graduate Route in September 2019. This will offer an opportunity for international students who have passed their degree to stay and work in the UK for two years post-study.

Private Education: Personal Records

Sir Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether he plans to collect and publish data relating to the progress of pupils at independent schools on a similar basis to the data collected for secondary maintained schools and academies.

Nick Gibb: There are no plans to collect or publish such data.The Department’s progress measures, particularly Progress 8, aim to capture the progress that pupils make from the end of Key Stage 2 to the end of Key Stage 4. They are a type of value added measure, which means that pupils’ results are compared to the actual achievements of other pupils nationally with similar prior attainment.As pupils at independent schools are not required to take end of Key Stage 2 tests, we are unable to include independent pupils in the calculation of Progress 8 scores. We do publish other attainment headline measures on independent schools. The Education (Independent School Standards) Regulations 2014 require that independent schools enable pupils to make good progress according to their ability, and this is checked during inspections of all independent schools.

Roads: Safety

Conor McGinn: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to raise awareness of road safety among children in (a) primary and (b) secondary schools.

Nick Gibb: Primary and secondary schools are able to cover teaching about road safety as part of their duty to provide a broad and balanced curriculum, and many do so through their Personal, Social, Health and Economic education (PSHE) provision. Schools can draw on resources available from many organisations, including the THINK! Campaign developed by the Department for Transport, available here: https://www.think.gov.uk.During the stakeholder engagement process about the curriculum content for Relationships Education and Relationships and Sex Education (RSE) and about the future status of PSHE, the Department for Education engaged with 90 organisations and other government departments, including the Department for Transport.

Languages: Education

Mr Ranil Jayawardena: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to (a) encourage boys to study a foreign language at (i) GCSE and (ii) A-Level and (b) improve the performance of boys studying a foreign language at those levels.

Nick Gibb: ​Since the Department introduced the English Baccalaureate performance measure in 2010, which includes languages, the proportion of GCSE entries from pupils in state-funded schools in a modern foreign language (MFL) has increased from 40% in 2010 to 47% in 2019. The reformed National Curriculum now makes it compulsory for pupils in maintained schools to be taught a foreign language in Key Stage 2.We are investing in a range of programmes to increase uptake of languages at GCSE. Our £4.8m MFL Pedagogy Pilot commenced in December 2018, and is designed to improve uptake and attainment in languages at Key Stages 3 and 4. We have also launched a pilot project in MFL undergraduate mentoring for secondary school pupils to drive up participation in the subject, specifically targeting areas of high disadvantage to extend access to languages for all pupils.

Free School Meals

Damian Hinds: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the distribution of GCSE Attainment 8 results was for (a) children eligible for free school meals, (b) children not eligible for free school meals and (c) all children in (i) London and (ii) England in the last 12 months for which data are available.

Nick Gibb: The distribution of GCSE Attainment 8 results split by free school meal status for London and for England for the year 2018-19 are provided in the accompanying table. 



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Schools: Liverpool

Ian Byrne: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what effect the national funding formula for schools has had on levels of socioeconomic inequality in (a) Liverpool, West Derby constituency, (b) Liverpool and (c) Liverpool City Region.

Nick Gibb: The National Funding Formula commits extra funding for pupils with additional needs, based on levels of deprivation, low prior attainment, English as an additional language and mobility. This is because evidence shows that pupils with these characteristics are more likely to fall behind, and need extra support to reach their full potential.In 2020-21, £6.3 billion will be allocated in the national funding formula for 5-16 year olds with additional needs in England. Areas with high levels of additional needs will attract more funding and, as a result Liverpool, West Derby constituency and the local authority of Liverpool will receive higher than average per pupil funding. Next year, primary schools and secondary schools in the Liverpool, West Derby constituency will attract, on average, £4,626 and £5,775 per pupil respectively. Across the local authority of Liverpool they will attract on average £4,560 and £5,744 per pupil respectively. In both cases, this is above the national average of £4,352 for primary schools and £5,578 for secondary schools.In 2020-21, the local authorities that make up the Liverpool City Region (Halton, Knowsley, Liverpool, Sefton, St. Helen’s and Wirral) will receive a total cash increase of £49.2 million in additional schools funding. Overall, these local authorities will receive a 5.1% increase in their total cash funding.

Sex and Relationship Education

Elliot Colburn: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what impact assessment his Department has carried out to assess the amount of work required by schools to implement the statutory teaching of Relationships and Sex Education from September 2020.

Elliot Colburn: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when his Department's implementation guidance on statutory Relationships and Sex Education will be released to all schools.

Nick Gibb: The Department is committed to supporting all schools in their preparations for the introduction of relationships education (RE), relationships and sex education (RSE) and health education from September 2020.In July 2018, as part of the consultation on the draft regulations and statutory guidance, the Department published a draft impact assessment, which set out the assessment the Department had made of the impact of the requirement to teach compulsory RE and RSE on independent and maintained schools. The assessment was made in line with requirements set out in the Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Act 2015, and responses to the consultation helped finalise the regulations, statutory guidance and impact assessment. The Government response can be found here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/780768/Government_Response_to_RSE_Consultation.pdf.The Department is investing in a central support package to support all schools to increase the confidence and quality of their teaching practice. We are currently developing a new online service featuring training materials, case studies and support to access resources. This will be available from April 2020 with additional content added through the summer term, covering all of the teaching requirements in the statutory guidance. The implementation guide will also be provided to all schools as part of this service, and training offers will be available for schools that need additional support.

Schools: Sanitation

Carla Lockhart: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to increase the provision of disabled toilets in schools.

Nick Gibb: All new school buildings must have an accessible toilet as required by building regulations. In addition, the Department’s guidance requires a hygiene (sanitary changing) room for pupils who require extra support.The Equality Act 2010 also places a duty on all schools to support disabled children and young people. Local authorities must prepare an accessibility strategy for disabled children and schools must prepare and act upon an accessibility plan for their premises. Both strategies and plans must include how buildings will be improved over time to enable disabled pupils to have better access to education. They should be regularly revised if necessary, and the local authority or school must consider the need to allocate adequate resources for their implementation.Local authorities must ensure there is an appropriate school place for all pupils, including those with SEN and disabilities. The Department is investing a total of £365 million through the Special Provision Capital Fund from 2018-19 to 2020-21. This funding will help local authorities create new places and improve facilities for pupils with special educational needs and disabilities. We also recognise the importance of providing a safe and effective environment for pupils. Since 2015, we have provided over £7.4 billion in condition funding to schools and those responsible for maintaining and improving school buildings.

Sex and Relationship Education

Sarah Champion: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether the new relationships education, relationships and sex education and health education guidance requires schools to teach pupils (a) what constitutes domestic abuse and (b) how that abuse might manifest in their own (i) LGBT+ and (ii) other relationships.

Nick Gibb: We are committed to supporting all schools in their preparations to introduce relationships education (primary school pupils), relationships and sex education (secondary school pupils), and health education (state-funded school pupils) to a high standard from September 2020.Through relationships education and relationships and sex education, schools will teach pupils the knowledge they need to recognise and report abuse, including emotional, physical and sexual abuse in an age and developmentally appropriate way.In primary schools, this will be delivered through focusing on boundaries and privacy in relationships with peers and family, including online. Pupils will also be taught how to report concerns or abuse.At secondary school, content such as grooming, sexual exploitation and domestic abuse, should also be addressed sensitively and clearly. Pupils should know the concepts of the law relating to sexual consent, exploitation, domestic abuse, rape, honour-based violence and Female Genital Mutilation, and how these can affect current and future relationships and where to access support if they are at risk.All pupils should receive teaching on LGBT relationships during their school years. The guidance recommends that LGBT specific content, when taught, is fully integrated in schools’ programme of study for this area of the curriculum.Relationships education, relationships and sex education, and health education will also support the statutory ‘Keeping Children Safe in Education’ guidance for schools, which they must consider when carrying out their duties to safeguard and promote the welfare of children.

Ministry of Justice

Community Rehabilitation Companies

Imran Hussain: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether he plans to exclude private companies holding community rehabilitation company contracts from taking additional contracts under the new planned probation model.

Lucy Frazer: No organisations have been barred from the competition. The Public Procurement Regulations 2015 contain discretionary grounds for disqualifying a supplier, including where there are “significant or persistent deficiencies" in the performance of a substantive requirement under a prior public contract, which led to early termination of the prior contract in question, or to damages or other comparable sanctions.The criteria for exclusion have not been met – no Community Rehabilitation Company contracts have been terminated for poor performance, and nor has there been cause to claim damages.Rules on taking account of suppliers’ past performances can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/procurement-policy-note-0415-taking-account-of-suppliers-past-performance

Prisoners: Self-harm

Neil Coyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to reduce incidents of self-harm among adult prisoners.

Lucy Frazer: Far too many prisoners are self-harming and we know that relationships between staff and prisoners plays an important role in tackling this. We have therefore invested in the recruitment of over 4,500 more prison officers since 2016, an increase which has helped us to roll out the key worker scheme in the adult male estate. Key workers provide a consistent individual prison officer with whom prisoners can establish a relationship, build trust and receive encouragement. We have delivered improved Introduction to Self-Harm and Suicide training to over 25,000 new and existing staff, and we are investing an extra £2.75 billion to modernise prisons, combat drug use and improve the environment in which prisoners live. We’ve recently issued further guidance to help staff support those who self-harm. We are continuing our partnership with the Samaritans, awarding a grant of £500k each year for the three years to 2021. This supports the excellent Listeners scheme, through which selected prisoners are trained to provide emotional support to their fellow prisoners. We have also sought to revise and update the Assessment, Care in Custody and Teamwork (ACCT) care planning process designed to manage prisoners at risk of self-harm. Changes to ACCT were piloted between February and June 2019 and, following a full evaluation of the pilot, a revised version will be rolled out across the estate later in the year.

Islamist Extremism in Prisons, Probation and Youth Justice Review

Kenny MacAskill: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the review of Islamist extremism in prisons, probation and youth justice, what separation units were recommended by that review; which types of separation unit were established; how many of those units are in operational use; and in which prisons those units were established.

Lucy Frazer: Following the publication of Ian Acheson’s 2016 report, the Government committed to establish Separation Centres which are designed to hold the most subversive extremist prisoners, and to safeguard the vulnerable from their malicious ideology. Across the prison estate there is one unit in operational use and a further two units operationally prepared for use, with the capacity to hold 28 individuals in total. These are contained within HMP Frankland, HMP Woodhill and HMP Full Sutton, which are High Security Prisons. We take the threat posed by terrorist offenders very seriously. In the three and a half years since the report, we have implemented a much wider range of measures to strengthen our work in this sector. This includes the creation a single joint Home Office HMPPS extremism unit to oversee the delivery of all counter terrorism work in prison and probation.

Prisoner Officers

Kenny MacAskill: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what plans he has to set a maximum age limit for prison officer staff involved in the security of category A terrorist prisoners.

Lucy Frazer: There are no plans to set a maximum age for prison officers working with prisoners convicted of terrorist offences in Category A prisons.HMPPS takes the safety of its staff seriously and takes a risk-based approach when deciding which officers are best placed to work with specific types of offender.This is more appropriate than any blanket age limit, especially as this could exclude some of our most experienced or specialist officers and be discriminatory on age grounds.

Prisoners: Radicalism

Kenny MacAskill: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many compulsory deradicalization programmes there are for identified prisoners; and how many prisoners have attended those programme in each month since June 2017.

Kenny MacAskill: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of de-radicalisation programmes in prisons for Islamic extremists.

Kenny MacAskill: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many of the de-radicalisation programmes operating in the prison estate for Islamic Extremists are prison officer led.

Lucy Frazer: Radicalisation is a complex issue. For every terrorist offender in prison and on probation, we have a range of capabilities to ensure robust supervision. We use tailored interventions with offenders - psychological, ideological and theological - to support their disengagement and rehabilitation. None of the programmes offered are compulsory, to ensure the intervention is most effective, the individual must be willing to engage.We will continue to regularly review Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) intervention programmes to ensure they are informed by the most up to date research on correctional rehabilitation. Accurately measuring the effectiveness of a programme relies on sufficient numbers completing it, which can take a number of years.Interventions are led by specialist intervention providers. None of the programmes developed for terrorist offenders are prison officer led. However, we have trained over 29,000 prison staff to recognise, report and challenge extremist behaviour in prison.HMPPS works closely with partners, including with law enforcement, to understand and manage the risks that terrorist offenders present in prison, using a range of control and rehabilitation measures. This is underpinned by a specialist counter terrorism case management process, which is led by HMPPS Counter Terrorism specialists.

Prisoners: Radicalism

Kenny MacAskill: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether (a) Category A prisoners and (b) prisoners believed to have been radicalised will be housed in private prisons.

Lucy Frazer: Across England and Wales, it is HMPPS policy that no Category A prisoners are held in private prisons. For every terrorist offender in prison and probation there are a range of capabilities to ensure robust end-to-end supervision. Risk management is underpinned by our specialist counter terrorism case management process to which all terrorist offenders, including offenders of extremist risk, are subject. We adopt a multi-agency approach, which allows risk assessments and intelligence to be shared appropriately with the police and security service. All of these measures help to manage the risk across the prison estate, including in private prisons.

Terrorism: Sentencing

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the average prison sentence served was for people convicted of terrorist offences in the last 10 years.

Lucy Frazer: Please find below a table showing the requested information.Table 1: Average (mean and median) time served (in months; including time spent on remand) in prison for those released from a 'terrorism legislation'(1) offence; 2009 to 2018 2009201020112012201320142015(2)2015201620172018Mean time served (months)23.036.346.669.035.133.748.011.619.616.922.7Median time served (months)24.042.042.069.027.433.748.07.59.711.317.9 Notes (1) For data from 2009 to 2015, the prison releases of offenders with a corresponding 'PREVENTION OF TERRORISM ACT' offence have been included.  For data from 2015 onwards, the prison releases of offenders with a corresponding offence under a piece of terrorism legislation have been included.(2) In 2015 we made significant changes to our data source and processing. Following these changes, we are able to extract much more detailed offence information. Data for 2015 has been presented twice in the above table, one using the 'old data' processing and once under the 'new data' processing - this has been done to provide an indication of the magniutude of the break in series. Data sources and quality   The figures in these tables have been drawn from administrative IT systems which, as with any large scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing.  Source: PQ 13457 (Ministry of Justice; DASD-JSAS)

Prisons: Crimes of Violence

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many adjudications related to instances of violence against prison staff there were in each year since 2010; and how many of those adjudications resulted in no additional days being added to the prisoner's sentence.

Lucy Frazer: The prisoner discipline system upholds justice in prisons and ensures incidents of prison rule-breaking have consequences. Only Independent Adjudicators, who are District Judges or Deputy District Judges can make an award of additional days to a prisoner’s custodial time left to serve. Where an act of violence amounts to a criminal offence, prisoners should be investigated by the police and face serious sanctions. The Assaults on Emergency Workers (Offences) Act 2018 has increased sentencing powers for offences of common assault and battery committed against an emergency worker. This provides Courts with the powers to punish those who commit violent crime against prison staff. The information requested can be found in the table below:Number of punishments for proven adjudications involving violence, 2011 - 2018, England and Wales1OffenceViolence against prison staff2 20112012201320142015201620172018 Number of proven adjudications 1,3612,1021,7881,7632,4362,8293,0063,645Number of "non-additional days" punishments12,7974,0863,2692,9563,8854,2064,3725,247Number of "additional days" punishments1208321304328463655697876Total number of punishments13,0054,4073,5733,2844,3484,8615,0696,123 Data sources and qualityThe figures in this table have been drawn from administrative IT systems which, as with any large scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing.Due to data quality issues, 2010 figures have not been provided and therefore no conclusion can be drawn for the annual 2010 data and no comparison can be made with 2010 figures.Notes:1 - Punishments can only be given where an adjudication has been proven and therefore exclude all other adjudications that have been dismissed or not proceeded with. One or more punishments may be imposed onto prisoners. If the charge against the accused prisoner is found to be proved beyond reasonable doubt, the adjudicator will then decide the appropriate punishment(s). The Prison or Young Offender Institution Rules provide guidelines when considering appropriate punishments, taking into account the circumstances and seriousness of the offence, and its effect on the victim (if any), the likely impact on the prisoner (including any health or welfare impact), the prisoner's age, behaviour in custody, remaining time to release, the type of establishment and the effect of the offence on local discipline and good order. Also the number of awards may be given at one establishment and applied at another.2 - Offences refer to assaults and attempts of assaults.

Prisons: Mobile Phones

Layla Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many (a) mobile phones and (b) SIM cards were discovered in each prison in (i) England and (ii) Wales in 2019.

Lucy Frazer: The HMPPS Annual Digest 2018 to 2019 provides information on the number of incidents where mobile phones and SIM cards were found in each prison in the 12 months to March 2019: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/hmpps-annual-digest-2018-to-2019. The figures for the period to March 2020 will be published on 30 July 2020.Overall, in the 12 months to March 2019, there were 11,448 incidents where mobile phones were found in prisons and 5,377 incidents where SIM cards were found. This is an increase of 8% and 14% respectively, compared with the previous 12-month period.We are investing £100m in prison security to stop contraband such as mobile phones from entering prisons. This includes X-ray baggage scanners and metal detection equipment to enhance searching of visitors and staff and the recently announced X-ray body scanners to detect prisoners concealing contraband inside their body.As part of the Security Investment Programme we are also investing in cutting-edge detection and blocking technology to find and stop illicit phones working inside our establishments.

Prison Officers: Pepper Spray

Mary Glindon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many and what proportion of prison officers were equipped with PAVA spray on (a) 1 January 2019, (b) 1 April 2019, (c) 1 July 2019 (d) 1 October 2019 and (e) 1 January 2020.

Lucy Frazer: PAVA spray is being provided to all band 3-5 staff in the adult male estate and it is currently being rolled out across the estate. We are able to provide the number of establishments who have completed their training activity and therefore in a position to issue PAVA to their staff.1 January 2019, 4 pilot prisons1 April 2019, 4 pilot prisons1 July 2019 4 pilot prisons1 October 2019, 6 establishments (inclusive of the 4 pilot prisons)1 January 2020, 7 establishments (inclusive of the 4 pilot prisons)We are giving prison officers body worn cameras, rigid bar handcuffs and PAVA spray to help them do their job more safely.Staff need appropriate training to use PAVA and only prisons who have rolled out the key worker scheme – which is vital in building relationships between offenders and staff – will receive it.

Prison Officers: Restraint Equipment

Mary Glindon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many and what proportion of prison officers were equipped with rigid-bar handcuffs on (a) 1 January 2019, (b) 1 April 1 2019, (c) 1 July 2019, (d) 1 October 2019 and (e) 1 January 2020.

Lucy Frazer: Rigid Bar handcuffs are being provided to all band 3-5 prison officers in the adult male estate. Establishments will be required to train their staff prior to issuing them therefore exact figures of staff equipped is not available. Instead we are able to provide the number of establishments who have commenced their training for the dates requested:1 January 2019, None1 April 1 2019, None1 July 2019, None1 October 2019: 2 establishments commenced training1 January 2020: 16 establishments actively delivering trainingRigid bar handcuffs are only one of the tools we are giving prison officers to help them do their job more safely; others include body worn cameras and PAVA spray.

Department for International Trade

UK Export Finance: Fossil Fuels

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, whether UK Export Finance undertake environmental impact assessments of oil and gas projects that it funds.

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, whether the environmental impact is a criterion in UK Export Finance's decision-making in relation to grant support to companies.

Conor Burns: UK Export Finance (UKEF) is committed to high standards of environmental, social and human rights (ESHR) risk management. It rigorously follows the requirements of the OECD Common Approaches and Equator Principles, which set the framework for export credit agencies and international financial institutions in managing such risks. Fundamental to this framework is a requirement for the sponsor of relevant projects which are to receive eligible UK exports to develop an Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA), or equivalent suite of documents, to international standards. UKEF has a specialist ESHR team that reviews relevant projects before UKEF makes any decision. This includes all oil and gas projects falling within the scope of either, or both, of the OECD Common Approaches or the Equator Principles. These supported projects are then monitored by the ESHR team throughout the lifetime of UKEF’s support to ensure continuing compliance with these requirements.

5G: Dumping

Bob Seely: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what steps the Trade Remedies Authority is taking to prevent the dumping of high-tech 5G network products and services.

Conor Burns: There are no existing trade remedies measures or ongoing investigations into the dumping of high-tech 5G network products. Trade remedies only apply to goods and not services. We have set up the UK’s trade remedies system, built on international best practice, to provide real and robust protections to UK industries which are suffering injury caused by unfair trading practices or by unforeseen surges of imports. Industry will be able to apply for an investigation, following the end of the Transition Period, and the Trade Remedies Authority will initiate an investigation provided there is sufficient evidence.

Products: Imports

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, with reference to her Written Statement 4 February 2020, Free Trade Agreements with the Rest of the World, HCWS96, if she will make it her policy that all imported products conform to regulatory requirements equivalent to those of products made in the UK; and if she will make a statement.

Conor Burns: The Government has been clear that we will not compromise on our world class product standards. Any future trade agreements must uphold our high regulatory standards. All products sold in the UK are required to meet our regulatory requirements, and this will continue to be the case.

Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government

Landlords: Incentives

Mr Steve Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if he will make it his policy to support London fringe local authorities by introducing a cap to incentive payments to landlords in those authority areas in line with the pan-London Local Authority Agreement as agreed by the London Boroughs.

Luke Hall: The Government is committed to reducing homelessness and rough sleeping.The London Collaboration Project initiated the creation of a local authority owned, not for profit, company named Capital Letters that will both procure and manage properties in the private rented sector across London.It was set up with the support of £37.8 million of Government funding. It aims to become the main source of private rented sector accommodation to prevent and relieve homelessness in London.It aims to increase efficiency, reduce competition between boroughs, increase market reach and market power, and allow many more homeless households to be accommodated in, or close to, their home borough.Capital Letters will improve the supply of homes, reduce the costs to local authorities, and achieve better outcomes for homeless families. It will do this through centralised procurement and be assisted by £37.8 million Government funding to procure around 21,000 additional tenancies.As part of the Rough Sleeping Strategy 2018, we announced an additional £20 million to fund existing or new local authority schemes that support both families and individuals in accessing or sustaining PRS tenancies.The schemes range from an innovative transitional insurance policy to providing incentives to landlords to offer longer term tenancies.

Public Lavatories: Non-domestic Rates

Mr Richard Holden: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what plans the Government  has to introduce a Bill to allow public lavatories to be excepted from business rates.

Luke Hall: The Government recognises that public toilets are valuable community amenities. Primary legislation would be required to provide business rates relief for those public toilets owned by principal local authorities and parish councils, as currently such bodies cannot have their rates bills reduced through reliefs. The Non-Domestic Rating (Lavatories) Bill, which would have enabled this fell when Parliament was dissolved. The Government will consider reintroducing the measure in due course.

Local Government Finance: Equality

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what plans he has to ensure the equity of local authority funding between the authorities in the north and the south of England.

Luke Hall: We are committed to undertaking a review of the relative needs and resources of local authorities in England.  The review will consider the drivers of local authorities’ needs, the resources available to them to fund services, and how to account for these in a way that draws a more transparent and understandable link between local circumstances and local authority funding.We aim to develop a funding methodology that will give a more up-to-date and robust assessment of the needs and resources for every local council, whether in the north or south, and are working closely with local government representatives and others to examine all elements of the review.We intend to share emerging results with the sector shortly, followed by a full consultation in the Spring.  Our aim is to implement the review in 2021-22.

Sleeping Rough: Storms

Alex Norris: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the effect of Storm Ciara on rough sleepers in (a) Nottingham and (b) the UK.

Luke Hall: The Government is clear that no one should be without a roof over their head. That is why we have committed to end rough sleeping within this Parliament and to fully enforce the Homelessness Reduction Act.Adverse weather conditions can be felt keenly amongst rough sleepers. In periods of severe weather, Severe Weather Emergency Provision (SWEP) can be triggered and local authorities work closely with charities to provide accommodation and support to rough sleepers.  In response to Storm Ciara, the Government is working closely with local authorities to agree activity to mitigate the impacts of the storm, including the implementation of continuity plans. Irrespective of the storm, people who are sleeping rough or at risk of sleeping rough can approach their local authority for support. Local authorities have a duty to work to actively relieve people of their homelessness or to prevent homelessness for people at risk.

Buildings: Insulation

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if he will publish a copy of the standard agreement used by his Department for the allocation of private sector ACM remediation funding.

Luke Hall: The funding agreements reached with applicants are bespoke to the circumstances of each building through negotiations between the applicant and delivery partner, and are commercially sensitive.

Social Rented Housing

Taiwo Owatemi: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what recent assessment he has made of the level of demand for social housing in (a) Coventry, (b) the West Midlands and (c) the UK.

Luke Hall: It is for local authorities to identify demand for social housing. The National Planning Policy Framework is clear that local authorities should identify the size, type and tenure of housing needed for different groups in the community, including those who require affordable housing, and reflect this in planning policies.The Government is committed to increasing the supply of social housing and has made £9 billion available through the Affordable Homes Programme to March 2022 to deliver approximately 250,000 new affordable homes in a wide range of tenures, including Social Rent.A mix of different tenures is vital to meet the needs of a wide range of people, and allow the sector to build the right homes in the right places.Since​ 2010, we have delivered over 464,500 new affordable homes, including over 331,800 affordable homes for rent.We will also renew the Affordable Homes Programme, building hundreds of thousands of new homes for a range of people in different places. This will help us prevent people from falling into homelessness while also supporting further people into home ownership.

Buildings: Insulation

Sarah Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 5 February 2020 to Question 10387 on Buildings: Insulation, whether his Department is collecting information on buildings below 18 metres in height with unsafe ACM cladding system.

Luke Hall: Information on the external wall systems for residential buildings below 18 metres in height is not currently being collected by the Department while the data collection on external wall systems for residential buildings 18 metres or over in height is being undertaken. It is important to gain accurate information on these higher risk buildings first. We will consider further collections in due course.

Religious Hatred

Naz Shah: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what funding his Department allocates to the Government adviser on (a) Antisemitism and (b) Islamophobia; and how many members of staff does each adviser have to support their work.

Luke Hall: John Mann was appointed as an independent adviser on Antisemitism by the Prime Minister in July 2019. The Department has not allocated staff or funding to John Mann.We continue to take a zero-tolerance approach to anti-Muslim hatred and recognise the importance of this matter. We will continue to explore and interrogate the issue of publishing a definition of Islamophobia in further detail.

Stronger Towns Fund

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 21 January 2020 to Question HL118 on the Stronger Towns Fund, if he will publish the (a) qualitative indicators and (b) quantitative indicators that formed the basis of the robust selection methodology used to choose the 100 towns.

Jake Berry: The Government is not able to publish the full selection methodology at this time as it includes information that relates to the formulation and development of government policy which is still live and ongoing.

Local Government: Carbon Emissions

Seema Malhotra: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what (a) funding and (b) resources his Department has allocated to local authorities to help reduce the carbon footprint of those authorities.

Luke Hall: 98 per cent of local authorities are taking action to reduce emissions from their areas, or from their own estate. Councils are vital agents for change, able to bring together local people and local opportunities, through effective use of planning, housing and waste management powers. My Department is engaging with councils and the Local Government Association, as well as other departments in Westminster, to ensure this vital role is supported appropriately by central government policy.This year’s proposed local government finance settlement for 2020-21 will provide access to the largest year-on-year increase in spending power in a decade, an increase of £2.9 billion or 4.4 per cent in real terms. Local authorities are able to spend non-ringfenced funding as they see fit to meet local priorities, including reducing their carbon footprint, and are accountable to their local electorate for their spending.

Housing

Sarah Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what estimate he has made of the number of residential buildings between 11 and 18 metres high.

Luke Hall: The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Buildings: Insulation

Sarah Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to the Government's consolidated advice on building safety, published 20 January 2020, what estimate he has made of the number of residential buildings which (a) require an EWS1 form and (b) have been issued a completed EWS1 form.

Luke Hall: The EWS1 form is a form produced and owned by industry (the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, UK Finance and the Building Societies Association) to assist in the valuation of high rise residential buildings for mortgage purposes. Any requirement to use it is a lender decision. Industry is monitoring its use.

Buildings: Insulation

Sarah Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what correspondence he has sent to owners of buildings with ACM cladding where remediation had not started by the start of February 2020; and if he will publish that correspondence.

Luke Hall: The Secretary of State has written to all building owners where the remediation of unsafe ACM cladding is not complete, pressing for progress. For the safety of residents in the buildings concerned, we are unable to publish correspondence as this could identify individual buildings.The Department has regular engagement with a named contact from each building to ensure progress with remediation is being made. Where building owners are failing to make acceptable progress, those responsible should expect further action to be taken – including naming and shaming and enforcement.

Ministry of Defence

Huawei: 5G

Bob Seely: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of the effect on the Five Eyes intelligence-sharing relationship of the risks associated with Huawei in the Government's proposed 5G solution.

Anne-Marie Trevelyan: I refer the hon. Member to the Written Ministerial Statement about the Government's proposed 5G solution, and the risks associated with high risk vendors, which was laid before the House of Lords by my noble. Friend Baroness Morgan of Cotes (Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport) on 28 January 2020 (HLWS66). This stated that "Nothing in the Review's conclusions affects this country's ability to share highly sensitive intelligence data over highly secure networks, both within the U.K. and with our partners, including the Five Eyes"Huawei will be excluded from those parts of the 5G and full fibre networks that are critical to national security. Even then the market share will be capped at 35 per cent.

Nuclear Weapons: Military Bases

Stewart Malcolm McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 5 February 2020 to Question 10395 on Nuclear Weapons: Military Bases, whether funding for defence projects (a) has and (b) will be reduced to fund the additional £1.35 billion required for projects set out in the NAO's report entitled, Managing infrastructure projects on nuclear-regulated sites, published on 10 January 2020.

James Heappey: The costs have been managed through business as usual budgetary processes within the Nuclear Enterprise, alongside changes in forecast costs elsewhere in the wider defence equipment programme, against overall funding available. Consequently, identifying specific funding decisions for individual projects is not possible.

Ministry of Defence: Recruitment

Carla Lockhart: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 27 January 2020 to Question 6149, how much his Department spent on recruitment promotion in (a) Northern Ireland, (b) England, (c) Scotland and (d) Wales in each of the last three years.

Anne-Marie Trevelyan: Recruitment advertising and promotion costs are not held on a regional basis. The total spend for the current and two previous financial years (FY) are set out below. Figures have been rounded to one decimal place.  ServiceFY2017-18FY2018-19FY2019-20 (to 31/1/2020)Navy£18.2million£19.1million£21.3millionArmy£19.4million£19million£21.2millionRAF£13.3million£15.2million£15.6million

International Military Services: Audit

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, for what reason IMS Ltd paid non-audit fees to its auditors between 1997 and 1999; what steps his Department took to ensure the independence of audit opinion during that period; and whether his Department paid those fees.

James Heappey: During the period in question International Military Services Ltd was subject to standard auditing and reporting requirements for a commercial entity. All operating costs, including any auditing fees, would have been met from accumulated profit from business activities and investment interest. IMS accounts are publicly available at Companies House.

Royal Navy: Labour Turnover

Mr Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he is taking to ensure staff retention in the Royal Navy.

Mr Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of recent trends in the level of staff retention in the Royal Navy.

Anne-Marie Trevelyan: Staff retention trends in the Royal Navy have remained stable with between 7.8% and 9.1% leaving annually over the last five years.The Royal Navy has introduced a number of initiatives to improve retention. These include targeted retention incentives and career extensions along with rebalancing current uniformed roles ashore to sea-facing roles creating better predictability and stability for frontline personnel and their families.

International Military Services: Audit

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the dates are of the last five meetings of IMS Ltd's audit committee.

James Heappey: There has been no meeting of an International Military Services Ltd audit committee in the current Financial Year. Ministry of Defence oversight of the company's finances is exercised through participation in the Annual General Meeting (most recently on 14 August 2019).

International Military Services: Iran

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many of IMS Ltd's (a) legacy disputes in respect of rapier missiles inherited by other suppliers and (b) other legacy disputes with Iran's MODSAF have been settled.

James Heappey: We are not aware of any dispute involving International Military Services Ltd relating to Rapier missiles. A total of 56 contracts between IMS Ltd and Iran have previously been settled.

International Military Services: Human Rights

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what guidance it has provided to IMS Ltd since it was reclassified as a Government entity on the UK's National Action Plan to implement the UN's Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights; and steps he is taking to ensure that IMS Ltd's business conduct does not lead to human rights violations by other parties.

James Heappey: International Military Sales Ltd is expected to comply with all relevant legislation and with the principles set out in "Good Business", the update to the National Action Plan to implement the United Nations Guiding Principles and Business and Human Rights, which is available at the following link:https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/522805/Good_Business_Implementing_the_UN_Guiding_Principles_on_Business_and_Human_Rights_updated_May_2016.pdf

Lesbian Gay Bisexual Trans History Month

Nia Griffith: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what plans his Department has to mark LGBT history month.

Johnny Mercer: This is a significant year for the LGBT community and Defence as we celebrate 20 years since the ban was lifted on LGBT personnel serving within the Armed Forces. I was honoured to host a reception in January at the Houses of Parliament and make a personal apology to those who experienced discrimination before 2000.Various events are taking place throughout February across Defence to celebrate LGBT History Month which are being actively publicised through both internal and external communications, including regular social media posts on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter with Defence case studies. Some of the highlights include a ‘Let’s talk about Inclusion’ event where a panel will discuss the LGBT History Month and inclusion with a question and answer session to open up conversations and give staff the confidence to have open discussions; a workshop that explored the issues LGBT staff face in the workplace; a Royal Navy conference, Navy Pride 20 – ‘The Past, Present and Future’; an Army memorial event at the National Memorial Arboretum and the Royal Air Force’s Freedom Network taking part in a collaborative media project with the RAF Museum. In addition, a number of Defence establishments are celebrating the month through raising the rainbow flag.Looking further ahead, I am proud that Defence will be recognising and celebrating various events throughout the year, such as Pride, Transgender Day of Visibility, Transgender Day of Remembrance, National Coming Out Day and more.

Department for Work and Pensions

Poverty

Alex Sobel: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the implications for his policies of the findings of the February 2020 Joseph Rowntree Foundation report entitled UK Poverty 2019-2020 that 56 per cent of people living in poverty were also in a working household in 2018; and if she will make a statement.

Will Quince: There is clear evidence about the importance of work in tackling poverty now and in the future. For example, a child growing up in a home where all adults are working is around 5 times less likely to be in poverty than a child in a household where nobody works. The majority of people in in-work poverty either work solely part-time, are the single earner in a couple, or are full-time self-employed.Delivering a sustainable long-term solution to poverty means building a strong economy and ensuring that the benefit system works with the tax system and the labour market to support employment and higher pay. There are over 1 million fewer workless households compared with 2010, with around 730,000 fewer children in workless households, and over 3.8 million more people have entered work, averaging around 1,000 people a day. Around three-quarters of the growth in employment since 2010 has been in full-time work. Our unemployment rate is now less than half the Euro area average. Around three-quarters of the growth in employment since 2010 has been in full-time work, substantially reducing the risk of poverty.Joseph Rowntree Foundation reported that Universal Credit is likely to help an extra 300,000 members of working families out of poverty.Universal Credit is designed to help people move into work faster, stay in work longer and spend more time looking to increase their earnings. It provides more financial help with childcare costs (eligible claimants are able to claim up to 85 per cent of their childcare costs, compared to 70% on the legacy system), a dedicated Work Coach, and removes the 16-hour ‘cliff edge’ for those who are working. We are confident that, as UC reaches more working families, we will see more people working full-time and ultimately achieving independence from the State.We will continue to reform the welfare system so that it promotes work as the most effective route out of poverty and is fairer towards those who receive it and the taxpayers who pay for it. We also want to identify opportunities to create a highly productive workforce, improving progression prospects for the lowest paid people so everyone has the right skills to meet the UK’s future demand. That is why we are delivering a significant programme of research and testing to build the evidence of how to overcome the obstacles that people face so that they can improve their earnings and career prospects.

Pensions: Ethnic Groups

Ms Angela Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what data her Department holds on levels of pension income by ethnicity.

Guy Opperman: National statistics on pensioners income by ethnicity can be found on the ‘ethnicity facts and figures’ website, here: https://www.ethnicity-facts-figures.service.gov.uk/work-pay-and-benefits/pay-and-income/pensioner-income/latest In addition, National Statistics on the percentage of pensioners in low income and income of pensioners by income quintile, by ethnicity are published annually in the ‘Households Below Average Income’ publication. Latest statistics can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/households-below-average-income-199495-to-201718

Pensions: Ethnic Groups

Ms Angela Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department is taking to improve the collection of data on levels of pension income by ethnicity.

Guy Opperman: There are no plans to alter the collection of data on levels of pension income, in relation to the ethnicity of pensioners. The Department’s key statistics on overall pension income are set out in the Pensioners’ Incomes series, which is itself based on the Family Resources Survey (FRS). The FRS captures ethnicity as part of the survey process. Both the survey as a whole and the ethnicity question within it are voluntary; respondents have the option not to state their ethnicity if they do not wish to. The Pensioners’ Incomes series can be found on GOV.UK: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/pensioners-incomes-series-statistics--3 Where respondents do volunteer their ethnicity, this is captured as one of 18 recognised groups. This is consistent with the harmonised principles for ethnicity, as set out by the Government Statistical Service, wherever social surveys are carried out. These principles were developed in consultation with several stakeholders, including the Equality & Human Rights Commission. Further information on categorisation by ethnic group, including how the groupings are chosen, can be found on GOV.UK: https://www.ethnicity-facts-figures.service.gov.uk/ethnic-groups

Occupational Pensions: Ethnic Groups and Females

Ms Angela Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate her Department has made of the number of additional (a) female workers and (b) workers from an ethnic minority who would be eligible for auto-enrolment if the earnings trigger was reduced to the National Insurance Lower Earnings Limit.

Guy Opperman: Under the Pensions Act 2008, the Department is required to conduct an annual review of the automatic enrolment earnings trigger, as well as the upper and lower limits of the qualifying earnings band (the automatic enrolment thresholds). Section 14 of the Pensions Act 2008 sets out a list of non-exhaustive factors to which the Department may pay regard while conducting the Review, including National Insurance Thresholds. The Department will also have regard to the Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED) contained in section 149 Equality Act 2010 and the impact on protected characteristics including sex (women) and race (black and ethnic minority groups). The Departments decision on the review for 2020/21 was announced earlier today. The earnings trigger for 2020/21 will be set at £10,000, striking a necessary balance between bringing in those most likely to benefit from pension saving with affordability for employers. The full analysis behind the Departments decision for 2020/21 automatic enrolment thresholds including the earnings trigger will be published in due course.

Universal Credit: EEA Nationals

Seema Malhotra: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many universal credit claims by EEA nationals have been (a) appealed and (b) overturned on appeal in each of the last four years.

Will Quince: The information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.

Pension Credit

Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent steps her Department has taken to increase the uptake of pension credit.

Guy Opperman: 1.6 Million people are already claiming some £5.4 billion in Pension Credit. The Government wants to make sure that all pensioners eligible can claim the Pension Credit to which they are rightly entitled. That is why from the 10 February we are launching a nationwide campaign to raise awareness of Pension Credit and encourage those over State Pension age to check whether they’re eligible. The campaign includes a short, animated video that will be shown in GP waiting rooms and in Post Offices. It will also be shown to Facebook users over State Pension Age and be supported by messaging on social media. We regularly work with our stakeholders to help spread the key messages from the campaign because we know that often the best ways to reach eligible pensioners is through trusted stakeholders working in the community. The Pension Credit toolkit is being updated with the campaign materials to supplement the resources it already contains for those working with pensioners, such as guides to Pension Credit and guidance designed to help older people understand how they could get Pension Credit. The toolkit is designed to help organisations support someone applying for Pension Credit as well as provide ideas for encouraging take-up. It can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/pension-credit-toolkit The Department for Work and Pensions continues to use a wide range of channels including information on www.gov.uk, in leaflets and by telephone to communicate information about benefits including Pension Credit to potential claimants. We target activity on engaging with people who may be eligible to benefits at pivotal stages, such as when they claim State Pension or Attendance Allowance or report a change in their circumstances which may mean that they could be eligible for Pension Credit. In addition, the Pension Credit calculator https://www.gov.uk/pension-credit-calculator enables potential claimants to check if they are likely to be eligible and get an estimate of what they may receive. People wishing to claim Pension Credit can do so by calling the free phone number 0800 99 1234.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Pigs: Animal Welfare

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many and what proportion of sows are kept in (a)(i) outdoor and (ii) indoor farrowing systems and (b) farrowing crates; and if she will make a statement.

George Eustice: The UK is ahead of most other pig producing countries in that an estimated 40% of breeding sows in the UK are kept outdoors and farrow freely. Of the 60% of sows kept in indoor group housed systems the majority will use farrowing crates, of which there are many different designs. I believe the aim should be for farrowing crates not to be necessary. It is important that we make progress towards a system which both safeguards the welfare of the sow as well as the piglets and also works commercially, and that we do so as quickly as possible so that crates can be consigned to history. A new statutory welfare code for pigs was laid in Parliament on 9 September 2019 and includes guidance on farrowing to protect the welfare of both sows and piglets. The code will come into force shortly.

Pigs: Animal Welfare

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many and what proportion of growing pigs are (a) free range having been born outside with access to a field throughout life, (b) outdoor-reared having been born and reared outdoors for approximately half their life and then brought inside, (c) outdoor-bred having been born outdoors and brought indoors at weaning and (d) permanently indoors; and if she will make a statement.

George Eustice: Defra does not hold statistics on how many pigs are reared outside or indoors. The terms free range, outdoor-reared and outdoor-bred are industry-owned marketing terms and Defra does not hold data on this type of information. To the best of our knowledge, this data is not available elsewhere.

Pigs: Animal Housing

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many and what proportion of sows in organic farming environments are kept in (a) (i) outdoor and (ii) indoor farrowing systems and (b) farrowing crates; and if she will make a statement.

George Eustice: The information requested is not held centrally and to obtain it would incur disproportionate costs as gathering the information would require each individual Control Body to contact each producer. The main principles of organic farming are that animal health and welfare are primarily promoted by good management and care of animals. Organic production employs a system that ensures animals have access to pasture (when weather and ground conditions permit) and are truly free range, that they have plenty of space – which helps to reduce stress and disease - and that they can graze and forage naturally on organic pasture (grasses and other crops) where only natural fertilisers are used and pesticides are severely restricted. There were approximately 37,400 organic pigs raised in the UK in 2018, approximately 10% of which were breeding sows (3,800). Farrowing crates are prohibited in organic production and organic regulations require farrowing sows to have at least 7.5 m2 of indoor space per sow and 2.5 m2 of outdoor space per sow.

Plastics: Recycling

Dr Alan Whitehead: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, which UK recycling plants are equipped to accept and recycle (a) PET plastic waste, (b) HDPE waste, (c) polyvinyl chloride waste, (d) polypropeline waste, (e) polystyrene waste and (f) low density polyethylene waste.

Rebecca Pow: Defra does not hold this information. A list of accredited plastic reprocessors is available on the National Packaging Waste Database at the link below, but this does not provide details of the type of plastics dealt with by a site: https://npwd.environment-agency.gov.uk/PublicRegister.aspx?ReturnUrl=%2fPackagingPublicRegisterLinks.aspx%3fReturnUrl%3d%252fdefault.aspx.

Plastics: Waste

Dr Alan Whitehead: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she plans to take to ensure that UK exports of plastic waste to OECD countries within the EU are not re-exported to non-OECD countries within the EU single market.

Rebecca Pow: The UN Basel Convention and an Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Council Decision (C(2001)107 FINAL) provide a system of international rules on waste shipments. These control regimes have been fully implemented in EU law through the EU Waste Shipment Regulations (Regulation (EC) 1013/2006). The EU’s control system for intra-EU shipments of waste is a shared regime that all EU member states must abide by. It does not draw a distinction between member states which are adherents to OECD Decision and member states which are not. Recent amendments made to the annexes of the Basel Convention will increase controls on the shipment of plastic waste. These will come into force globally on 1 January 2021.

Dogs: Imports

Kenny MacAskill: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many dogs were imported using the Balai Directive in 2019; and from which countries those dogs were so imported.

George Eustice: The number of dogs that were imported to the UK using the Balai Directive in 2019 was 44,563. The breakdown of this figure by country is as follows: Country of OriginDogsCountry of OriginDogsAntigua and Barbuda2Latvia1Argentina32Lebanon7Australia275Lithuania5Austria1Macao50Azerbaijan2Malaysia29Bahrain7Malta12Barbados1Mauritius17Bermuda9Mexico16Bosnia and Herzegovina174Namibia7Brazil201Netherlands70Bulgaria220New Zealand73Canada82Nigeria1Cayman Islands15Norway1Chile1Oman1China29Peru7Colombia17Philippines2Costa Rica6Poland1160Croatia153Portugal47Cyprus3457Puerto Rico2Czech Republic73Qatar22Denmark2Romania19487Egypt68Russia70Estonia1Saudi Arabia5Falkland Islands1Serbia2Fiji1Singapore42Finland1Slovakia27France78Slovenia2French Polynesia1South Africa529Germany31Spain4891Greece294Sweden18Hong Kong50Switzerland1Hungary2145Taiwan7India35Tanzania2Iran14Thailand4Ireland (Rep. of)7368Turkey76Israel8Turks and Caicos2Italy20UAE292Japan5Uganda2Jordan3Ukraine1Kazakhstan3Uruguay3Kenya12USA2604Korea (North)1Vietnam16Korea (South)30Zimbabwe16Kuwait5 The data for commercial imports covers the number of animals imported to the UK and was extracted from the Trade Control and Expert System (TRACES) through the Qlikview facility by searching for imports of Canis familiaris in 2019 to the United Kingdom. These figures cover all commercially imported dogs, including commercial puppies, rescue dogs, research dogs and unaccompanied pets. The information that the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) have provided is a true reflection of the information that is held. The APHA cannot guarantee the accuracy of this data, as the information that has been entered into TRACES by a third party.

Fishing Catches: Computer Software

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 3 February 2020 to Question 7676, on Fishing Catches: Computer Software, what volume of data the catch recording app will generate in a year; how the data are hosted; and whether the data from that app will be cross checked with (a) sales notes and (b) other data on the fisheries activity database (i) automatically as part of an integrated system or (ii) manually.

George Eustice: When fully operational, it is expected that the catch recording system will generate data on approximately 200,000 fishing trips per year. This data will be hosted by the Centre for Fisheries, Environment and Aquaculture Science using Microsoft Azure. Data collected will be cross checked with sales notes and other data on the fisheries activity database using both automatic checks and manual checks.

Fishing Catches: Computer Software

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 7 January 2020 to Question 238, on Fishing Catches: Computer Software, whether the figure of £1.8 million includes the cost of (a) providing training to fishers on how to use the catch recording app, (b) providing training and guidance to staff of the Marine Management Organisation (MMO) on the use of that app, (c) hosting and managing the data generated and (d) further hardware and software developments to ensure the MMO can compile a single record of fish caught and landed.

George Eustice: The figure of £1.8 million includes the development of guidance and training for both fishers and staff of the Marine Management Organisation (MMO). Costs associated with hosting and managing the data as well as further hardware and software developments to ensure the MMO can compile a single record of fish caught are not included.

Fishing Catches: Computer Software

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she has taken to ensure the effectiveness of the catch recording app.

George Eustice: The catch recording service was developed using input from and testing with users. A ‘soft launch’ was also undertaken in 2019 where the app was tested by under-10 metre fishing vessel owners who submitted data from over 100 individual fishing trips. During the full roll out phase of the service, further feedback is being used to make additional improvements to both the guidance and system functionality. The Marine Management Organisation (MMO) will continue to provide further support to the English fleet to help them adapt to the new digital solution.

Fly-tipping: Barnet

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what powers the London Borough of Barnet has to search and seize vehicles suspected of fly-tipping.

Rebecca Pow: Tackling fly-tipping is a Government priority. It blights local communities and the environment wherever it occurs. As such, we have given waste collection authorities such as the London Borough of Barnet the power to enable them to search and or seize vehicles that they suspect have been involved, are involved or are about to be involved in fly-tipping and other waste crimes. In accordance with the provisions of the Environmental Protection Act 1990, an authorised enforcement officer from a waste collection authority may search and seize any vehicle (and its contents) that the enforcement officer reasonably believes: has been used to commit certain waste crimes, including fly-tipping (which is an offence under section 33(1) of the Environmental Protection Act 1990) where proceedings for that offence have not yet been brought against any person; oris being used or is about to be used to fly-tip (or to commit certain other waste crimes). In addition, under section 6 of the Control of Pollution (Amendment) Act 1989, a magistrate may issue a warrant to the police to seize a vehicle if there are grounds for believing that an offence under section 33 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 has been committed. In the event a vehicle is seized as above, it must be dealt with in accordance with the Control of Waste (Dealing with Seized Property) England and Wales) Regulations 2015.

Air Pollution: Barnet

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much funding has been allocated from the public purse to Barnet Council under the air quality grant programme in each of the last three years.

Rebecca Pow: Barnet Council has not been awarded funding from Defra’s Air Quality Grant Programme in the last three years.

Air Pollution

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much money from the public purse her Department has spent on improving air quality in each of the last five years.

Rebecca Pow: The Joint Air Quality Unit (JAQU) is a cross-departmental team between Defra and the Department for Transport (DfT). It was set up in financial year (FY) 2016/17 and is responsible for the delivery of the UK Plan for Tackling Roadside Nitrogen Dioxide Concentrations. The table below shows Defra’s spend for FY 2015/16 and JAQU’s total spend each year since FY 2016/17. Figures for FY 2014/15 are not available. Financial YearDefra Funding (£m)DfT Funding (£m)Total (£m)2015/163.2-*3.22016/1711.91.012.92017/1819.922.442.32018/1951.6109.2160.8*No DfT funding for FY 2015/16

Food: Origin Marking

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing a geographical indication scheme for UK food and drink after the transition period.

George Eustice: At the end of the transition period, we will launch UK Geographical Indication (GI) schemes, as part of our strategy to protect regional and traditional foods. Collectively, GI products like Scotch Whisky, Melton Mowbray Pork Pies and Welsh Lamb represent 25% of the UK’s food and drink export value and are highly valued by the communities that produce them. We are committed to celebrating the success of these products and ensuring they are fully protected from imitation and evocation in the UK from 1 January 2021. The new UK GI framework will fully comply with the WTO Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights. As we establish new trade relationships around the world, we will seek to promote GI products as exemplars of quality British food and drink through campaigns like Food is Great.

Plastics: Waste

Alex Sobel: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate her Department has made of the number of tonnes of plastic waste in British territorial waters.

Rebecca Pow: Plastic pollution is one of the biggest challenges facing the marine environment today. It’s estimated that between 4.8 and 12.7 million tonnes enter the global ocean each year and, if action is not taken, scientific evidence estimates that the total plastic in the ocean is set to treble by 2025 compared to 2015 levels. Marine plastic litter can move with ocean currents, which makes it difficult to calculate how much is situated in British territorial waters at any given point in time. This is why we collaborate closely with our neighbouring countries through the OSPAR Convention to reduce the flow of waste into the North-east Atlantic. We are delivering on our commitments in the Marine Litter Regional Action Plan and leading on efforts to tackle the issue of abandoned, lost and otherwise discarded fishing gear. Prevention of waste entering the marine environment is our current priority. The Resources and Waste Strategy for England, published in December 2018, sets out our plans to eliminate all avoidable plastic waste, working towards our 25 Year Environment Plan target to reduce all types of marine plastic pollution. Marine plastic pollution is a global issue that requires global effort and solutions. The UK launched the Commonwealth Clean Ocean Alliance alongside Vanuatu in 2018. Through this alliance, a growing group of 31 Commonwealth member states (over half of the Commonwealth) have pledged action on reducing plastic pollution of the ocean.

Plastics: Waste

Alex Sobel: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to reduce the amount of plastic in British territorial waters.

Rebecca Pow: The Government is making great strides in tackling the scourge of marine plastic pollution, and we have made some good progress. In 2018, our ban on microbeads in rinse-off personal care products helped to stop billions of tiny pieces of plastic entering the ocean. Our charge for single-use carrier bags has also led to a 90% reduction in plastic bag usage and a reduction of plastic bags surveyed on the seabed. Our 25 Year Environment Plan establishes our target of reducing all forms of marine plastic pollution where possible, and our Resources and Waste Strategy sets out how we will achieve this. We have committed to introducing a deposit return scheme to encourage the reuse of items prevalent in marine litter, and we will explore the use of Extended Producer Responsibility schemes to incentivise innovation for items such as plastic packaging and fishing gear. We collaborate closely with our neighbouring countries through the OSPAR Convention to reduce the flow of waste into the North-east Atlantic. We are delivering on our commitments in the Marine Litter Regional Action Plan and leading on efforts to tackle the issue of abandoned, lost and otherwise discarded fishing gear.

Air Pollution: Leeds

Alex Sobel: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will make an assessment of the effect of the absence of a mass transit system in Leeds on the number of PM2.5 particles in the air in that city.

Rebecca Pow: Any proposals for transport infrastructure projects need to be assessed from a local transport and planning perspective. Defra has no plans to conduct an air quality impact assessment. The Government is, however, committed to reducing public exposure to fine particulate matter (PM2.5) pollution as outlined in the Clean Air Strategy 2019 and this will require reductions in emissions from a wide range of sectors. In addition, we continue to work with Leeds City Council to improve air quality in the city, including providing £29 million to put in place a Clean Air Zone.

Air Pollution: North of England

Alex Sobel: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to reduce the number of PM2.5 particles in the air of cities in the north of England.

Rebecca Pow: The Clean Air Strategy (CAS), published in January 2019, set out the comprehensive action required across all parts of Government to improve air quality. Towns and cities across the whole of the UK will benefit from the implementation of the commitments made in the CAS. For example, the CAS outlined a comprehensive suite of actions to tackle emissions from domestic burning, which is the single largest contributor to national emissions of fine particulate matter (PM2.5). These actions include legislating to prohibit the sale of the most polluting fuels, which we have consulted on and to which we intend to publish our formal response in the near future. The Environment Bill delivers key parts of the CAS, including measures to help local authorities tackle smoke emissions from domestic burning. The Bill also establishes a legally binding duty to set a target for PM2.5. The introduction of measures to meet this target will reduce PM2.5 concentrations across the whole country, particularly in locations where concentrations are highest, often where people are most exposed such as in urban areas where many people live and work.

Forests

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department has taken to help the UK's forests and woodlands recover from Ash Dieback; and what steps her Department is taking to prevent new diseases being imported.

George Eustice: Since ash dieback was first detected in the UK, the Government has invested more than £6 million to advance our scientific understanding of this disease. We have conducted the world’s largest screening trials for tolerant trees and last month planted 3,000 trees in the first UK archive of tolerant ash. This will provide the basis for a breeding programme of tolerant ash over time and is a major step towards landscape recovery. Guidance for landowners on managing diseased ash has been published, including a toolkit for local authorities which has been downloaded over 18,500 times. Defra also provides restoration grants to support replanting with alternative species where ash dieback is present. The UK has robust controls in place to prevent new diseases being imported, including a comprehensive system of inspections and surveillance and a statutory notification scheme for certain tree species. Thirty-five high risk host species, including many native tree species such as ash, oak, beech, willow and birch, are now provisionally prohibited from import to the UK from outside the EU, until a full risk assessment has been carried out.

Plastic Bags: Fees and Charges

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department plans to extend the five pence plastic bag charge to all retailers within the 2019 Parliament.

Rebecca Pow: The 5p charge has been highly successful at reducing the use of single-use plastic carrier bags, doing so by over 90% in the main retailers since its introduction in 2015.The Government consulted last year on extending the charge to all retailers and increasing the minimum charge to at least 10p. We will publish the summary of responses and a Government response setting out next steps as soon as possible.

Floods: Insurance

Mr Richard Holden: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps the Government is taking to ensure that people requiring insurance protection offered by FloodRE are able to switch insurance supplier.

Rebecca Pow: Flood Re is a flood reinsurance scheme designed to improve the availability and affordability of flood insurance for households at high flood risk. Flood Re does not deal directly with homeowners, but instead allows insurance companies to pass on the high flood risk element of household insurance policies to them for a below market rate set premium. Flood Re is available through more than 85 insurance brands representing 94% of the home insurance market. We encourage homeowners to shop around to get the best deal for their home insurance.

Fisheries

David Duguid: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that the UK can enforce its fishing rights after the end of the transition period.

George Eustice: The Government has taken significant steps to ensure the UK can enforce its fishing rights. These include, with respect to England via the Marine Management Organisation, increasing the number of frontline warranted officers by 50% (35 people) for 2019/2020; putting in place a framework to increase aerial surveillance by a maximum of two surveillance aircraft as risk and intelligence demands; and chartering two additional commercial vessels to enable an increase in routine sea-based inspections to supplement provision from the Royal Navy Fisheries Protection Squadron. Fisheries control and enforcement is a devolved matter. As such, it will continue to be for each Devolved Administration to decide how best to control and enforce its waters, and what new arrangements may be needed. We continue to work closely with the Devolved Administrations in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland to ensure a coordinated approach to fisheries control and enforcement across UK waters.

Cremation

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will take steps to prohibit the opening of any new crematorium that is not fitted with DENOx Technology used to reduce the release of toxic nitric oxide and nitrogen dioxide.

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will introduce a requirement for all crematoriums to install DENOx Technology, to reduce the release of toxic nitric oxide and nitrogen dioxide, within the next 12 months.

Rebecca Pow: All crematoria are required to have an environmental permit in accordance with standards set out in the relevant statutory Process Guidance Note (PGN). The PGN contains guidance on how crematoria can reduce nitric oxide and nitrogen dioxide during the cremation process. PGNs are reviewed on a cyclical basis, as part of a collaborative approach with industry. When the PGN for Crematoria is next reviewed, we will take into account latest developments in best available abatement technologies and techniques for reducing NOx during the cremation process.

Seas and Oceans: Treaties

Mr Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, which (a) Ministers and (b) officials from her Department will attend the UN discussions on a global ocean treaty in New York in June 2020.

Rebecca Pow: Conservation of the ocean is a priority for this Government. We are committed to concluding negotiations on a new legally binding instrument under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea for the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction. Defra plays a key role in the negotiation team and we will be sending four officials from marine policy, in addition to officials from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, the lead Department for the negotiations, to attend the fourth intergovernmental conference from 23 March – 3 April 2020.

Air Pollution

Fleur Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing a pollution hot spot fund for areas with high levels of air pollution.

Rebecca Pow: The Government is investing £572 million to support local authorities to take action as part of the Nitrogen Dioxide Plan. In addition, the Air Quality Grant Scheme provides funding to eligible local authorities to help improve air quality. This scheme has awarded over £61 million in funding to a variety of projects since it started in 1997.

Home Office

Gambling: Crime

Mr Ranil Jayawardena: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the answer of 30 January 2020 to Question 6728 on gambling and crime, what assessment she has made of the pressure on policing the increase in cases of pathological gambling whereby people turn to crime to fund their addiction.

Kit Malthouse: While there are various studies suggesting that the prevalence of problem gambling is higher in offenders than the general population, the issue of problem gambling and gambling addiction has not been raised as a specific issue during our conversations about acquisitive crime with the NPCC and others.

Counter-terrorism: Protest

Christian Matheson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the recent counter-terrorism police guidance released as part of the Prevent Strategy, how many individuals were reported to the police due to their suspected involvement with a climate activist group.

Kit Malthouse: The Home Office does not hold information on how many individuals were reported to the Police due to suspected involvement with a climate activist group. This level of data is held by the Police who are operationally independent from the Home Office. Counter Terrorism Policing Headquarters have categorically stated they do not classify involvement with a climate activist group as extremism and stated that the inclusion of them in Counter Terrorism Police guidance was an ‘error of judgment’. Membership or support of climate activist groups does not mean that a person is considered a threat by the Home Office or by the police; it does not meet the government threshold for extremism as defined in the Government’s Counter-Extremism Strategy published in 2015.

Visas: China

Alan Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the coronavirus, what steps the Government is taking to relax visa travel return requirements for visitors already in the UK and who are due to return to China; and if she will make a statement.

Kevin Foster: We will take a proportionate approach to individuals who are unable to comply with their visa due to circumstances beyond their control, and are actively engaging with the relevant sectors to develop an effective strategy to ensure individuals are not penalised. Information and guidance will be placed into the public domain as soon as it is available.

Immigration: EU Nationals

Paul Blomfield: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the answer of 1 November 2019 to Question 6360 on Immigration: EU Nationals, whether she plans to maintain the funding allocated to voluntary and community organisations throughout the UK to enable them to mobilise services targeted at vulnerable EU citizens beyond the end of March 2020.

Brandon Lewis: The current grant funding scheme continues until the end of March 2020, and the Home Office is currently exploring options for the financial year of 2020/21. As well as providing funding for charities which have supported hundreds of thousands of vulnerable people, there are more than 1,500 Home Office staff working on the EU Settlement Scheme and 250 Settlement Resolution Centre staff providing assistance to applicants with any questions about the scheme or who need help applying. Additional support is also available to those EU citizens in the UK who do not have the appropriate access, skills or confidence to apply. This includes over 300 assisted digital locations across the UK where people can be supported through their application. There have been more than 3 million applications and 2.7 million granted status under the EU Settlement scheme.

Immigration: EU Nationals

Paul Blomfield: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people granted (a) pre-settled status and (b) settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme have requested a share code in each month since the that scheme became operational.

Paul Blomfield: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people with (a) settled and (b) pre-settled status have cited (a) work in the UK, (b) get hospital treatment, (c) claim benefits or tax credits, (d) get homelessness assistance or council housing, (e) open a bank or building society account, (f) get a loan or credit card, (g) another reason as their reason for requesting a share code to prove their status in each month since the EU settlement scheme became operational.

Brandon Lewis: Individuals granted pre-settled or settled status have had the option within the ‘view and prove your settled or pre-settled status’ service to share their status information for a variety of reasons since 30th September 2019. This is done by generating a ‘share code’ which can be given to a third party to provide them with time-limited access to the data. One of these options (‘work in the UK’) takes users to a separate Home Office service, which can also be used by individuals who have not been through the EU Settlement Scheme (holders of Biometric Residence Permits (BRP) and Biometric Residence Cards (BRC)). The ability to share information via the online service(s) is entirely optional; EEA nationals can continue to rely on their passports or national ID cards until at least December 2020 to evidence their rights in the UK but can choose to use the online service if they wish. Those with a BRP/C can also continue to rely on their physical cards. Data is collected on usage of the service for internal purposes, to help us make improvements to the service, and to inform how it is performing. Data relates to number of views on the service, rather than unique users, and it is not currently possible to identify whether those who go on to share their status have settled or pre-settled status. Data on usage on the ‘view and prove’ service more generally will be published later this year, as part of the Home Office Transparency Data.

Football Banning Orders

Carla Lockhart: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many Football Banning Orders have been issued in each of the last three years.

Kit Malthouse: Data on football banning orders issued by courts in England and Wales under the Football Spectators Act 1989 is shown in the table below.SeasonNumber of football banning orders issued2016/175172017/184602018/19549Note: the dates used for football seasons are from 1st August to 31st July

Naturalisation: Standards

Stella Creasy: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many applications for naturalisation have been outstanding for longer than six months.

Kevin Foster: The latest published data on naturalisation applications can be found here:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/in-country-migration-data-august-2019Naturalisation is not an automatic process and the Home Office has to conduct a number of checks before it can reach a decision on whether to grant citizenship. The extent and length of time taken to complete the checks on the more complex cases varies according to the particular circumstance of each case. The progress of these checks is closely monitored and decisions are made when the checks are completed.

Metropolitan Police: Biometrics

Mr David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to regulate the use of facial recognition technology by the Metropolitan Police.

Kit Malthouse: The High Court found in September 2019 that there is a clear and sufficient legal framework for police use of live facial recognition technology. The framework includes police common law powers to protect the public, data protection and human rights legislation and the Surveillance Camera Code of Practice. This means they can only use it for a policing purpose where necessary and proportionate.

Church Commissioners

Church of England: Carbon Emissions

Jim Shannon: To ask the right hon. Member for South West Bedfordshire, representing the Church Commissioners, what support the Church of England is receiving from (a) local authorities and (b central government to help reduce their carbon footprint.

Andrew Selous: The National Church Institutions of the Church of England are not receiving support from central government or local authorities to help reduce their carbon footprint. While there may be instances of local parishes being given one-off small grants, records of these are not held centrally.The Church of England's General Synod met in February 2020 to discuss reducing the carbon footprint of the Church. The Synod voted to call upon all parts of the Church of England to reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2030. More information about the vote at the Synod can be found here: https://www.churchofengland.org/more/media-centre/news/general-synod-sets-2030-net-zero-carbon-target

Cabinet Office

Cybercrime: Artificial Intelligence

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether his Department plans to update the National Cyber Security Strategy on the use of artificial intelligence.

Oliver Dowden: Our current National Cyber Security Strategy (2016-2021) is delivering transformational change, building new capabilities and intervening to address the cyber threat.Our manifesto has committed to investing more in cyber security, embracing new technologies and legislating to make the UK the safest place in the world to be online.  The government's future approach to cyber security will form part of the Integrated Security, Defence and Foreign Policy Review, which will consider all aspects of our defence and security capabilities, including ways in which technological changes could have implications for our security.

Conditions of Employment

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps his Department is taking to (a) protect and (b) improve the rights of workers in the global information and communications technology sector through its (i) policies on and (ii) processes for procuring that technology throughout the government estate.

Jeremy Quin: This Government is committed to ethical and responsible procurement in all sectors, including the technology sector. This includes working with suppliers to identify and avoid the risk of modern slavery in Government Department’s supply chains, as part of wider Government action to tackle compliance with the Modern Slavery Act.The Government is taking forward initiatives to tackle modern slavery in supply chains. In September 2019 we published new guidance to help Government departments identify and avoid the risk of modern slavery in their supply chains during procurement processes. It also sets out how existing contracts can be risk assessed and suggests measures to manage the risks identified. The Guidance contains several tools to support this work, including:An online training course on ethical procurement following a partnership between the Chartered Institute of Procurement & Supply (CIPS), Government Commercial Function and the Home Office.A Modern Slavery Assessment Tool to support public bodies assess their own supply base for modern slavery risks.In 2019, we also published the updated 'Supplier Code of Conduct v2', which sets the standards and behaviours expected from suppliers (and separately grant recipients), and reiterates the government's approach to working with suppliers.Crown Commercial Service’s Standard Contract includes a Schedule which sets out the behaviours expected of all government suppliers, including those in the ICT industry. The schedule covers several areas of worker's rights, including equality and accessibility, security of income, working hours and modern slavery.Additionally, the Crown Commercial Service has partnered with Electronics Watch, a multi-stakeholder initiative, to improve conditions for workers at factory level in government ICT hardware supply chains. Electronics Watch’s work has led to workers in government supply chains being reimbursed for recruitment fees they paid. Government is also piloting a programme to improve responsible recruitment in parts of our health sector supply chains in South East Asia.

Infected Blood Inquiry

David Duguid: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the timetable is for the conclusion of the Infected Blood Inquiry.

Oliver Dowden: The timetable for the Infected Blood Inquiry is a matter for the Chair of the independent statutory Inquiry, Sir Brian Langstaff. Sir Brian has publicly recognised the need to achieve a proper balance between speed and the need for thoroughness, and has made clear that the Inquiry will complete its work as quickly as a thorough examination of the facts allows.

Climate Change Cabinet Committee

Darren Jones: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, when the Cabinet Committee on Climate Change will next meet; and what topics will be discussed at that meeting.

Jeremy Quin: I refer the Hon. Member to the answer given by Earl Howe to PQ HL1347 on 13 February 2020.

Treasury

Children: Day Care

Carla Lockhart: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many people have registered for the tax free childcare scheme in each constituent part of the UK since its inception.

Carla Lockhart: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what proportion of people registered for the tax-free childcare scheme are self-employed.

John Glen: Statistics relating to Tax-Free Childcare account usage are published quarterly in “Tax-Free Childcare Statistics” on the gov.uk website. The latest publication, containing information up to September 2019 is here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/tax-free-childcare-quarterly-statistics Table 5 of the publication shows the number of families, by Government Office Region, that have a Tax-Free Childcare account. The table below shows the number of accounts that are open, regardless of whether or not they have been used. RegionYear2017-182018-19Families with Open Tax-Free Childcare accounts  United Kingdom272,320449,355England263,255426,130North East11,35518,200North West37,31059,495Yorkshire and Humber25,39540,750East Midlands23,58038,215West Midlands26,61543,220East of England30,04550,140London33,80054,550South East45,53574,660South West29,62546,900Wales2,2856,745Scotland3,4009,700Northern Ireland1,3403,240 In September 2019 15% of families with an open Tax-Free Childcare account had at least one self-employed parent.

Travel: Insurance

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he is taking to ensure that (a) comprehensive and (b) competitively priced travel insurance cover is available to people with mental health problems after the transition period ends.

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps the Government is taking to ensure that (a) comprehensive and (b) competitively priced travel insurance cover is available to people with (i) disabilities and (ii) chronic health conditions after the transition period ends.

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the Treasury Select Committee's inquiry, consumers’ access to financial services, launched on 9 November 2018, what steps he plans to take to ensure that people with existing medical conditions have access to insurance after the transition period.

John Glen: On Wednesday 5 February, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) published new rules and guidance to improve access to travel insurance for all consumers with medical conditions Included within the FCA’s rules is a requirement for firms to signpost consumers to specialist providers if they are declined cover, offered cover with an exclusion, or charged a significantly higher premium based on their pre-existing medical condition. In addition, the Government has legislated to ensure that all UK insurance policies with EU insurance companies can continue to be serviced by those EU companies after Brexit, notably with a Temporary Permissions Regime (TPR) for EEA firms currently passporting into the UK. This allows EU firms to continue operations in the UK for a time-limited period at the end of the transition period while they apply for full UK authorization, while the Financial Services Contracts Regime allows for the orderly wind down of the UK regulated activities of remaining firms who do not enter the TPR.

Debts: China

John Spellar: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment his Department has made of the potential effect of trends in the level of debt in China on the world financial system.

John Glen: As highlighted by several institutions, including the International Monetary Fund, there are material risks associated with indebtedness in China. The Financial Policy Committee of the Bank of England, which is responsible for monitoring risks to financial stability in the UK, reflected the risk of a severe recession in China, which would encompass factors such as its debt levels, in its 2019 stress tests of UK banks. The FPC concluded that the UK banking system would be resilient to this risk.

Digital Technology: Midlands

Mr Andrew Mitchell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what fiscal steps he is taking to grow the digital economy in the Midlands.

Mr Simon Clarke: The government is committed to making the UK the best place to start and grow a digital business, and to ensuring the benefits of digital are felt across the country. The Midlands is well-placed to make the most of the digital revolution, with its leading universities and strengths in advanced manufacturing and engineering. It is already home to more than 20,000 digital technology businesses. We are driving further growth in the region’s digital economy through: The £250m Midlands Engine Investment Fund (MEIF), which enables effective collaboration between lenders, local bodies and the British Business Bank to help local firms access the investment they need to thrive. The MEIF complements other British Business Bank programmes to give small and medium-sized businesses increased flexibility in the types of funding available to them.A Skills deal with West Midlands Combined Authority, which will unlock up to £69m to boost digital and technical skills, job opportunities and productivity across the region.Committing over £20m for large-scale testing of new 5G applications in urban areas across the West Midlands, helping local people and businesses to benefit from new digital technologies. This builds on the £4.8m invested in the 5G testbed in Worcestershire, putting the Midlands at the forefront of 5G developments. The region is also benefitting from: Our investment of £21m in Tech Nation’s regional network, which is helping tech entrepreneurs across the UK to scale their businesses.The government’s commitment since 2016 to invest an additional £7bn by 2022 in R&D – the largest increase on record and demonstrable progress towards our goal of increasing economy-wide R&D investment to 2.4% of GDP by 2027.Support for businesses through R&D tax reliefs, which has more than tripled overall since 2010 and totalled £4.4bn in 2016-17.

Electric Vehicles: Charging Points

Andrew Selous: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much funding from the charging infrastructure investment fund for new rapid charge points has been allocated to South West Bedfordshire constituency.

Mr Simon Clarke: The Charging Infrastructure Investment Fund (CIIF) was announced at Autumn Budget 2017 and aims to catalyse the rollout of electric vehicle charging infrastructure. The CIIF is managed and invested on a commercial basis by private sector partners, and Government will invest up to £200m to be matched by private investors. The location of investments will depend on the business plans of the chargepoint companies the fund invests in. As a result, the Government does not hold the requested information.

Cash Dispensing: Rural Areas

John Nicolson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps his Department is taking to ensure free access to cash for people in rural communities.

John Glen: The Government recognises that widespread free access to cash remains extremely important to the day-to-day lives of many consumers and businesses in the UK. The Government has launched the Joint Authorities Cash Strategy Group – bringing together the Payment Systems Regulator, Financial Conduct Authority, and Bank of England – to ensure comprehensive oversight of the overall cash infrastructure. Industry has a key role to play. LINK, the scheme that runs the UK’s largest ATM network, has committed to protect remote free-to-use ATMs one kilometre or further from the next nearest free-to-use ATM or Post Office counter. LINK has also provided funding to allow local communities to request new free-to-use ATMs. The Payment Systems Regulator has used its powers to hold LINK to account over its commitments to preserve the broad geographic spread of ATMs.

Employment: Taxation

Mr Richard Holden: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps the Government is taking to ensure that policies to tackle disguised employment do not adversely affect genuine contractors.

Jesse Norman: Government policies to tackle disguised employment only apply to individuals who are working like employees under the current employment status tests. They do not apply to the self-employed or stop anyone working through their own company. HMRC are committed to working with organisations to ensure changes to the rules are introduced correctly. This includes:An enhanced version of the Check Employment Status for Tax toolWebinars for tax agentsOnline guidanceTargeted communications for organisations affected.

Employment: Taxation

Mr Richard Holden: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps the Government is taking to ensure that policies on tackling disguised employment do not encourage the contracting of work to overseas or foreign contractors where HMRC has more limited powers.

Jesse Norman: Government policies to tackle disguised employment only apply to individuals who are working like employees under the current employment status tests. They do not apply to the self-employed or stop anyone working through their own company.

Treasury: Offshore Funds

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether his Department’s (a) anti-fraud and (b) anti-money laundering procedures monitor (i) payments by his Department to offshore accounts and (ii) the use of offshore accounts by his Department's (A) suppliers and (B) senior staff.

John Glen: The Department has extensive anti-fraud and anti-money laundering procedures in making payments including verifying the identity of suppliers and staff, and the validity of payment details. All suppliers and public office holders are expected to comply with the law as it applies to offshore banking activity. Ministers and Civil Servants also uphold the standards of conduct as set out in the Ministerial and Civil Service Code respectively, as well as the seven principles of public life.

Treasury: Offshore Funds

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether (a) members of his departmental Board and (b) senior executives in his Department are required to disclose offshore bank accounts and holdings.

John Glen: The departmental Board and Senior Executives are not required to disclose offshore bank accounts and holdings. All public office holders are expected to comply with the law as it applies to offshore banking activity. Ministers and Civil Servants must also uphold the standards of conduct as set out in the Ministerial and Civil Service Code respectively, as well as the 7 principles of public life.

Treasury: Offshore Funds

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much money his Department paid into offshore bank accounts in the financial year 2018-19.

John Glen: In 2018-19 the Department made £2m of foreign payments to suppliers, all of which were made to the countries where the suppliers have operations. In 2018-19 the Department made £13k of foreign salary payments, all of which were made to the countries where the employees were resident in at the time. All suppliers and public office holders are expected to comply with the law as it applies to offshore banking activity. Ministers and Civil Servants also uphold the standards of conduct as set out in the Ministerial and Civil Service Code respectively, as well as the seven principles of public life.

Small Businesses: Living Wage

Bill Esterson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps his Department is taking to support small businesses to afford the recent increase in the National Living Wage.

John Glen: The Government recognises that increases in the National Living Wage will mean extra costs for some businesses, However, it’s right that workers are fairly rewarded for their input into the economy. By the Spring, the Government will set out the Low Pay Commission’s remit for the years beyond 2020, taking account of the potential impact on employment and economic growth. To support businesses with the costs of employing staff, the Government has introduced the Employment Allowance to reduce employers’ National Insurance contributions bill by £3,000. Over 1 million employers are benefitting from this relief.

Non-domestic Rates

Bill Esterson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on the proposed long-term review of the business rates model of taxation.

Jesse Norman: In line with the practice of successive administrations, details of ministerial discussions are not normally disclosed. The Government is committed to conducting a fundamental review of business rates and further information will be announced in due course.

Pensions: Public Sector

Alison McGovern: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, when he plans to resume the 2016 valuations for public sector pension schemes which were paused in January 2019.

John Glen: In January 2019, the Government announced a pause to the cost control element of the valuations of public service pension schemes, due to the uncertainty about benefit entitlements arising from the Court of Appeal’s judgment in McCloud in December 2018. The Government has committed to addressing the discrimination identified in McCloud in all public service pension schemes, while ensuring all members can keep their accrued benefits. Schemes are currently discussing high-level proposals to achieve this with employer and member representatives, to inform a full public consultation. In addition, Employment Tribunals are considering the remedy for claimants in the various cases. While these processes are underway, the cost control mechanism remains paused as the value of pension schemes to members cannot be assessed with certainty.

Aviation

Jim Shannon: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what long term steps he is taking to protect regional aviation connectivity.

Mr Simon Clarke: The Government has recently announced additional measures to support and enhance regional connectivity across the UK, to ensure all corners of the country drive the economy, and fully benefit from prosperity in years to come. In a sign of the Government’s commitment to levelling up all regions of the UK, a review of regional connectivity will ensure all nations and regions of the UK have the domestic transport connections local communities rely on – including regional airports. As part of this work and ahead of the March Budget, HM Treasury is currently reviewing Air Passenger Duty to ensure regional connectivity is strengthened while meeting the UK’s climate change commitments to achieve net zero emissions by 2050. The government established a technical working group to explore the operational and legal challenges to changing APD in Northern Ireland. Members include representatives from industry, experts, and civil servants from both the UK government and Northern Ireland.

Electronic Publishing: VAT

Tracy Brabin: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, for what reasons the rate of VAT on e-publications is different from the rate for hard copy publications; and if he will make a statement.

Jesse Norman: Under current legislation, the UK applies a zero rate of VAT to physical publications. The supply of e-publications is standard rated. Changes were made to EU legislation in December 2018 which gave Member States the option to apply a zero rate to e-publications. This has not so far been taken up by the UK. The Government keeps all taxes under review, including VAT. Any amendments to the VAT regime as it applies to physical publications and e-publications must be carefully assessed against policy, economic and fiscal considerations. Any representations on this will be considered as part of the fiscal event process.

Productivity

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of trends in the level of UK productivity between 2009 and 2019.

Mr Simon Clarke: Labour productivity in the UK is just 2.4% above its pre-crisis peak. Productivity growth has slowed globally since the crisis but in the UK this slowdown has been more pronounced - across the G7 productivity growth has slowed from 1.9% per year in the decade to 2007 to just 0.8% since. In the UK, by comparison, it has fallen from 2.3% pre crisis to 0.3% since. To level up growth we will continue to invest responsibly including increased investment in infrastructure - connecting the country and businesses by road, rail and broadband and committing to our target of 2.4% of GDP being spend on R&D. We will also continue to invest in people – our greatest asset – levelling up skills and opportunity by creating a new national skills fund.

Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport

Mobile Phones: Bosworth

Dr Luke Evans: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps his Department is taking to improve mobile phone connectivity in Bosworth constituency.

Matt Warman: The Government announced in-principle support in October 2019 for the mobile network operators’ (MNOs) Shared Rural Network (SRN) proposal. The proposal would share investment costs between the MNOs and government and increase 4G mobile coverage throughout the United Kingdom to 95% by 2025. It will be underpinned by a legally binding coverage commitment from each operator. The Government's in-principle support is subject to detailed negotiations. While this is not yet a done deal, the Prime Minister has made improvements to rural mobile coverage part of his first 100 days pledge. I will continue to work with the sector to make that happen.The exact site deployment plans and timescales will be managed by the MNOs themselves in order for them to best deliver the agreed coverage outcomes. So until the operators’ final radio planning exercise is complete, neither the Government nor the operators will know the precise location or number of new or upgraded masts. However, the operators will be consulting with local communities as their roll out plans become clearer.

Social Enterprises

Vicky Foxcroft: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to the Answer of 23 October 2019 to Question 666, on Third Sector, what recent progress his Department has made on establishing a regular forum for social enterprises to coordinate relations with the Government.

Helen Whately: The Civil Society Strategy sets out our vision for government’s work with and for civil society over the next 10 years and beyond. The Strategy recognised the demand from the social enterprise sector for a simpler relationship with the government and committed to establishing a regular forum for social enterprises to coordinate relations with the government. The forum will be launched later this year.

Telecommunications

Bob Seely: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what criteria the Government is using to define the safety critical infrastructure that will be excluded from high risk telecommunications vendors.

Bob Seely: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to the oral statement of the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, of 28 January 2020, Official Report, column 709, on UK Telecommunications, what his Department's definition is of a high-risk vendor.

Matt Warman: As set out in the oral statement of 28 January by the Secretary of State for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, a high risk vendor is a vendor that poses greater security and resilience risks to UK telecoms. That statement also provided details of the non-exhaustive set of objective factors that were taken account of to assess a vendor as high risk. This set of factors has been further elaborated on in the National Cyber Security Centre’s advice on the use of equipment from high risk vendors in UK telecoms networks that was also published on 28 January and can be found on their website. The NCSC also published a summary of the security analysis for the UK telecoms sector that informed the conclusions of the Government’s Telecoms Supply Chain Review. The summary notes that sensitive networks either route or have access to sensitive information, and include those directly relating to the operation of government or any safety-related systems and in wider critical national infrastructure. The summary of NCSC’s analysis can be found at: https://www.ncsc.gov.uk/report/summary-of-ncsc-security-analysis-for-the-uk-telecoms-sector.

Huawei

Bob Seely: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to the Foreign Secretary's oral statement to the House of 27 January 2020 on Huawei, Official Report, coulum 533, for what reason the Government decided to give different permissions to high risk vendors for critical and non-critical cyber infrastructure.

Bob Seely: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of the model provided by the UK Huawei Cyber Security Evaluation Centre on mitigating the risks to UK national security of Huawei's involvement in the UK's critical networks.

Bob Seely: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of the UK Cyber experts' review of security risks in respect of the Government's proposed 5G solution.

Bob Seely: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment he has made of whether Huawei has the ability to remove malicious code introduced by third-parties.

Bob Seely: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment he has made of the durability of the distinction between core and periphery in the 5G network in respect of the Government's decision to limit Huawei's involvement to core aspects of that network.

Matt Warman: The Government has complete confidence in the independent technical assessment of the UK’s security experts. The security analysis conducted by the National Cyber Security Centre underpinned the final conclusions of the Government’s Telecoms Supply Chain Review. NCSC published a summary of its security analysis which informed the conclusions of the Review. This analysis includes a summary of NCSC’s assessment of the distinction between the ‘core’ and ‘edge’ of the network under section 8.3.1. The analysis states that:“In 5G networks, core functions can be relocated nearer the ‘edge’ of the network. This has been described as blurring the line between core and edge. This is technically inaccurate as the ‘core’ is defined by a set of functions, standardised within [5], rather than a location. Consequently, the distinction between the two remains clear, as does the advice above. Our advice remains that HRVs are excluded from performing core functions, and this applies whether these functions are deployed centrally or towards the ‘edge’. Our understanding is that this clarification is unlikely to be consequential in the UK, as we are informed that core functions may run near the edge, but not actually on edge access equipment (such as base stations).”The summary of NCSC’s security analysis can be found at: https://www.ncsc.gov.uk/report/summary-of-ncsc-security-analysis-for-the-uk-telecoms-sector. In reaching the final decision on high risk vendors, the UK Government took into consideration the full range of risks, including in relation to malicious code or programming errors. Huawei’s presence in the UK has been subject to detailed, formal oversight through the Huawei Cyber Security Evaluation Centre (HCSEC), and we remain confident in these arrangements. However the Government recognises that HCSEC alone cannot mitigate all the risks, and that is why the final conclusions of the Telecoms Supply Chain Review - as announced on 28 January - set out the additional controls that should be applied to high risk vendors.

Huawei: 5G

Bob Seely: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the findings of the report by the Henry Jackson Society, entitled Defending our Data: Huawei, 5G and the Five Eyes, published on 16 May 2019.

Bob Seely: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what representations the Government has received from the (a) French Government, (b) Australian Government, (c) US Administration and (d) Czech Government on the safety of Huawei systems.

Bob Seely: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, for what reasons the Government's assessment of the safety of Huawei systems is different to the assessments of those systems made by the (a) French Government, (b) Australian Government, (c) US Administration and (d) Czech Government.

Bob Seely: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment his Department has made of the comments by former Chief of MI6, Sir Richard Dearlove in respect of the Government's UK Telecommunications strategy.

Matt Warman: The Telecoms Supply Chain Review included an international workstream to take account of the range of international positions so that they could be factored into UK decision-making. In reaching the final decision on high risk vendors, the Government took into consideration the full range of threats and risks informed by the technical and security expertise of the UK’s intelligence community, led by the National Cyber Security Centre, together with all relevant information, both public and classified, including that from partners.

Huawei: 5G

Bob Seely: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, if he will make an assessment of the implications for his policies of the evidence reported to have been obtained by US authorities on the involvement of Huawei in sanctions fraud.

Matt Warman: The Government does not comment on other countries’ ongoing legal processes.

Television: Licensing

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what estimate his Department has made of the amount of additional annual BBC revenue following the implementation on (a) ending free TV licence for all over 75's and (b) proposed increases in the annual licence fee.

Nigel Adams: In 2015, the Government agreed a licence fee funding settlement with the BBC for a five year period between 2017 and 2022. We agreed that responsibility for the over 75 licence fee concession would transfer to the BBC in June 2020. In return, we closed the iPlayer loophole, committed to increase the licence fee in line with inflation for each year of the settlement period, and reduced a number of other BBC spending commitments. The BBC reports annually on the revenue raised by the licence fee in the ‘Television Licence Fee Trust Statement’ available on the TV Licensing website. For 2017/18, it said that it received an additional £23m as a result of the uplift in the level of the licence fee. For 2018/19, it said that it received an additional £79 million to BBC revenue as a result of the increase. The estimate for the impact on BBC revenue following the implementation of the revised over 75 licence fee concession from June 2020 is a matter for the BBC.

Huawei: 5G

Bob Seely: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, if he will make an assessment of the implications for his policies of the findings of the report entitled, Defending Our Data: Huawei, 5G and the Five Eyes published by the Henry Jackson Society in May 2019.

Matt Warman: In reaching the final decision on high risk vendors, the Government took into consideration the full range of threats and risks informed by the technical and security expertise of the UK’s intelligence community, led by the National Cyber Security Centre, together with all relevant information, both public and classified, including that from international partners.

World Book Day

Tracy Brabin: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps his Department is taking to support World Book Day 2020.

Helen Whately: DCMS has no Departmental plans to celebrate World Book Day in 2020 directly. However, over 90% of local authority public library services in England have expressed interest in participating in World Book Day activities. World Book Day has also put a message in the fifteen £1 books taking part in the World Book day campaign to encourage children and young people to join their local library.

Museums and Galleries

Tracy Brabin: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, how many free museum visits have there been in each region and constituent part of the UK in each of the last three years.

Helen Whately: The government is committed to maintaining free entry to the permanent collections of national museums, as outlined in the 2019 manifesto. As culture is a devolved matter, information would not be held by my department on a UK basis. We do not hold complete information on all museums in England. However, we do hold this information for the fifteen DCMS sponsored museum groups, which encompass 40 museums and galleries. Six groups are either partly or wholly based outside of London (National Museums Liverpool, Royal Armouries, Natural History Museum, Tate, Science Museum Group, Imperial War Museums), encompassing half the total number of sponsored museum sites. Visitor numbers for these museum groups are published online: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/sponsored-museums-and-galleries-annual-performance-indicators-201819 As the national development agency for museums, Arts Council England collects some information about museums and their visitors. It directly funds a number of regional museums through the National Portfolio and publishes data about their visitors figures. National Portfolio museums (and, pre-2018, Major Partner Museums) have a mix of operating models with some free to enter, some charging, and some charging for special exhibitions. Many charging museums also offer free or concessionary entry to local residents. https://www.artscouncil.org.uk/our-investment/national-portfolio-2018-22 Furthermore, the government supports free entry to regional museums through tax incentives like the VAT 33A relief scheme, and is committed to expanding access to museums across England.

Youth Centres

Taiwo Owatemi: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps his Department is taking to increase the provision of youth centres.

Helen Whately: This government is investing £500 million over five years through the new Youth Investment Fund. The fund will be used to build new youth centres, refurbish existing youth facilities, provide mobile facilities for harder to reach areas, and invest in the youth work profession and frontline services. Government is also funding up to £7 million this financial year through the Youth Accelerator Fund that will expand existing successful projects delivering positive activities, and address urgent needs in the youth sector. The charity UK Youth have launched a small grants programme to distribute funding to deliver extra sessions in youth clubs and youth groups across England.

Arts and  Culture

Taiwo Owatemi: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what recent steps he has taken to improve access to the arts and culture in the regions and nations of the UK.

Helen Whately: As cultural funding and policy is a devolved issue, I will focus on the work we do across England. Through the Arts Council England (ACE), we are investing and promoting the arts and culture all around the country and will continue to do so. There continues to be a shift in ACE's National Portfolio funding outside London, increasing from 53.8% outside London in 2012-15 to 60.3% in 2018-22. As part of this, ACE expects the organisations they fund to ensure that their cultural offer is accessible to as many people as possible. A great example of this is the Royal Shakespeare Company’s increasing number of “relaxed performances” which make the theatre more accessible to a neurodiverse audience. In October 2019, the Government also announced a £250m Cultural Investment Fund (CIF) - of which £125m will be invested in regional libraries and museums across the country, helping these cultural institutions to enhance their offer and benefit every more people.

World Wide Web Foundation

Ben Lake: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the Answer of 6 February 2020 to Question 8437 on World Wide Web Foundation, whether the Government has plans to sign up to the Contract for the Web.

Matt Warman: Government supports many of the aims of the Contract for the Web and we continue to engage with the World Wide Web Foundation on these issues.

Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport: Equal Pay

Tracy Brabin: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps he is taking to close the gender pay gap in his Department.

Nigel Adams: The DCMS mean and median gender pay gaps have reduced since 2018. The mean gender pay gap is 5.6%, down from 7.5% and the median gender pay is 16.6%, down from 22.9%. We have introduced actions recommended by the Government Equalities Office to support further reductions including:Improving the diversity of our talent pools through analysing gendered language in our job descriptions and adverts to ensure no-one is deterred by masculine or feminine framing.Improving the transparency of pay, reward and promotion processes to empower individuals to manage their careers and achieve goals.Promoting the uptake of Shared Parental Leave, using our Senior Civil Servants as rode models and our Diversity and Inclusion Ambassadors as champions.

Tourist Attractions

Rachel Maclean: To ask the Minister for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps his Department is taking to improve access to cultural attractions outside London.

Holly Mumby-Croft: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps his Department is taking to improve access to cultural attractions outside London.

Helen Whately: Through the Arts Council England (ACE), we are investing and promoting the arts and culture all around the country and will continue to do so.There continues to be a shift in the distribution of ACE's National Portfolio funding, with the amount of funding spent outside London increasing from 53.8% in 2012-15 to 60.3% in 2018-22.As part of this, ACE expects the organisations they fund to ensure that their cultural offer is accessible to as many people as possibleA great example of ACE’s funded national portfolio organisations doing this is the New Wolsey Theatre in Ipswich, which hosts relaxed viewings of it’s performances in order to make them more accessible to those with dementia.

Railways: Stockton and Darlington

Paul Howell: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what plans he has to support the 2025 celebration of the bicentenary of the Stockton and Darlington railway.

Helen Whately: As the birthplace of our modern railway system, the Stockton and Darlington Railway is an important part of our nation’s heritage and I fully support efforts aimed at celebrating its bicentenary in 2025.Through their Heritage Action Zones, Historic England is funding a £700,000 programme aimed at rejuvenating and restoring the 26 mile stretch of historic railway.This programme will help realise the railway’s potential to become a major heritage attraction and international visitor destination.

Broadband: Rural Areas

Jamie Stone: What steps he is taking to monitor the progress of the rollout of superfast broadband to rural areas.

Matt Warman: Great progress has been made in the Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross constituency. Six years ago, just 4% of premises had access to superfast broadband; that figure is now 78%. This Government has also provided Highlands Council with £4.2m to deliver full fibre networks to public sector sites in Inverness, Fort William, Wick and Thurso.

Football: Clubs

Justin Madders: What recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the governance of premier league football clubs.

Nigel Adams: Football clubs are the heart of local communities, they have unique social value and many with a great history. It is vital they are protected and fans should have their voices heard. The governance of football is first and foremost a matter for the relevant authorities, in this case the Premier League and the Football Association. These bodies have a duty to govern the sport and provide assurances to fans, players and indeed employees, that proper protections are in place. However, we have committed to a fan led review of football governance, which will include consideration of the Owners’ and Directors’ test, to ensure we protect the game for fans. We will liaise closely with fan representatives and the football authorities as we decide the scope and structure of this work.

House of Commons Commission

Parliamentary Estate: ICT

Caroline Lucas: To ask the hon. Member for Perth and North Perthshire, representing the House of Commons Commission, pursuant to the Answer of 21 January 2020 to Question 2472, what the budget was for information and communications technology equipment for the Parliamentary estate in each year from 2010 to 2019.

Pete Wishart: The expenditure on equipment by the Parliamentary Digital Service and its predecessor, the Parliamentary ICT Department, has been used rather than the budget to show what has actually been incurred on equipment purchases.Information is not available prior to 2012/13 at the level requested and may not include all expenditure by the House of Lords. Figures for 2019/20 are to date.Total spend2012/13 £858k2013/14 £1,372k2014/15 £1,458k2015/16 £4,808k2016/17 £6,106k2017/18 £4,892k2018/19 £7,876k2019/20 £2,270k

Parliamentary Estate: ICT

Caroline Lucas: To ask the hon. Member for Perth and North Perthshire, representing the House of Commons Commission, pursuant to the Answer of 21 January 2020 to Question 2472, what proportion of the budget for information and communications technology equipment for the Parliamentary estate was spent independently of the Crown Commissioning Group in each year from 2010 to 2019.

Pete Wishart: The proportion of the total expenditure for information and communications technology equipment for the Parliamentary estate, excluding some expenditure on House of Lords equipment, under non-Crown Commercial Service (CCS) contracts, or frameworks, is shown in the table. Information is not available prior to 2012/13.FYTotal spend Non-CCS % 2012/13£858k38.0%2013/14£1,372k7.1%2014/15£1,458k13.7%2015/16£4,808k3.5%2016/17£6,106k29.6%2017/18£4,892k8.2%2018/19£7,876k13.5%2019/20£2,270k3.3%Figures for 2019/20 to January 2020.The large increases in 2012/13, 2016/17 and 2018/19 on non-CCS spend occurred when large purchases were made on Parliamentary contracts awarded under the OJEU process.

Lesbian Gay Bisexual Trans History Month

Nia Griffith: To ask the hon. Member for Perth and North Perthshire, representing the House of Commons Commission, what plans Parliament has to mark LGBT history month.

Pete Wishart: The UK Parliament has a range of activities and events taking place over LGBT History month. These include:Pride at Parliament LGBT+ history tours. 75 minute guided tour highlighting the significant part played by LGBT+ people at UK Parliament as leaders, legislators, activists, lobbyists and monarchs.Evening event for LGBT+ History Month. Combines a themed guided tour and a visit to the Parliamentary Archives for a talk and to view historic artefacts.General Tours of Parliament including school visits. Tours are adapted to have an LGBT+ focus; this includes tailored content and the use of examples to explain the work of Parliament within the context of LGBT+ history.Social media. Content will include a story quiz on historical LGBT+ people and laws in UK Parliament, historical landmarks, legislation, a range of artworks and online content and comms relating to Jez Dolan’s artwork Wolfenden. There will also be chamber coverage of relevant business and profiles of and quotes from MPs.Talk and panel discussion celebrating parliamentary achievements in progress for LGBT+ rights.Your Story, Our History Films – Promote series of films with focus on three individuals – who share their experiences of how lgbt+ legislation passed by the UK Parliament has affected their lives.House Magazine Various Op-ed from staff about LGBT+ History month Lord Cashman event – ‘From Albert Square to Parliament Square’ and followed by an audience Q+A.ParliOUT Open Art Exhibition: being your authentic LGBT+ self. Artwork from membership shown digitally across the Estate.Lego Suffragette hosted by Pride Cymru in the Welsh Assembly for their LGBT History Month programme. Culminates with a lecture on Baroness Rhondda, a famous local Suffragette and women's rights advocate on 29th February.BAME & LGBTQ Trailblazers exhibition. In Richmond House Business Lounge, showcasing the stories and work of LGBT activists from BAME backgrounds.UK BAME LGBTQ Life after Stonewall Lunch and Learn – A one-hour lunch and learn with Veronica McKenzie of Harringay Vangard.

Women and Equalities

Access to Elected Office for Disabled People Fund

Ms Harriet Harman: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of reinstating the Access to Elected Office Fund for people with disabilities.

Victoria Atkins: While financial support for candidates in elections is also a matter for political parties the Government is considering what support it might provide to succeed the current EnAble fund. The Disability Unit is considering options in connection with the National Strategy for Disabled People, which is due to be published in 2020.

Candidates: Disability

Ms Harriet Harman: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what steps her Department is taking to support disabled parliamentary and local government candidates.

Victoria Atkins: The Government recognises that disabled people are likely to face greater costs when seeking elected office due to their disability which is why we launched the EnAble Fund for Elected Office to help cover disability related expenses.The Fund is time limited and was set up to cover scheduled elections between December 2018 and March 2020. Officials are exploring how the Fund might support Police and Crime Commissioner and Local election candidates after 31st March 2020.While financial support for candidates in elections is also a matter for political parties the Government is considering what support it might provide to succeed the current EnAble fund. The Disability Unit is considering options in connection with the National Strategy for Disabled People, which is due to be published in 2020.

Period Poverty Task Force

Alex Sobel: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, whether her Department plans to continue the work of the Period Poverty Taskforce.

Victoria Atkins: The cross-sectoral Period Poverty Taskforce has provided a clearer understanding of the problem of period poverty and the expert solutions to address the barriers faced by all who have periods. Alongside this, work across government will ensure that people in schools, colleges, hospitals and police custody can access period products with dignity. Further announcements on the plans and the work of the Taskforce will be made in due course.